So It's Not a Mummy This Time?
by HyalineReverie
Summary: Sequel to my Fanfic, "The Mummy Returns, Again." Femi, Alex and the gang are back, almost 2 years later, to face a little more evil. This time, however, they'll all be surprised to find that it has nothing to do with Egypt OR Mummies. Bring it all again.
1. Dreams and Drunks

_**Author's Notes:**__** Hurrah! I have returned! After 2 confuddling years that managed to come between me and continuing my Mummy Fanfiction... I am back! And I bring you the sweets and savouries of the Sequel which you have all been asking for in your **_**wonderful **_**reviews. I have been looking back over them and feeling so delighted and, suddenly, my spark was back. I will bring you another grand adventure with lots of emotional twists and turns, I promise!**_

_**ENJOY!**_

It was the perfect day, in everyone's eyes. Not just for the jittery, excited Bride or the pacing, pondering Groom, but all who had travelled to that single point in the world to share a day of joy and love and appreciate a uniting of two into one. The Egyptian sun kissed all those who sat beneath her and the soothing, tepid breeze danced all around as to join in with the celebration.

The flutes began to play, and the drum pounded slowly. The music announced to everyone that it was time to stand and turn to watch the beautiful Bride stroll on down through the isle. Femi couldn't stop smiling behind her veil as she took her slow steps closer and closer towards the front, where Alex, Carter and Jonathan stood rigid, grinning, looking at Femi in a way that made her feel like the most gorgeous, precious thing in the entire world. She was getting _married_. Wow. Friends of the family and other family members sat either side of Femi - Evie and Rick were right at the front, smiling with pride and happiness, although Evie had plenty of tears on their way.

"You look like an Angel." Femi's father whispered to her, after lifting up her veil to kiss her cheek in congratulations.

Femi giggled lightly with a warmth fluttering in her stomach and showing on her reddening cheeks. Turning, her shimmering eyes immediately locked with Alex's, who also couldn't stop staring at his bride-to-be-in-white. It wasn't a traditional wedding dress, but an Egyptian-woven gown which was off-shoulder and came to just above her shins, to reveal her bare feet and the flowery bracelet around her ankles. Alex also wore a customary Egyptian suit for the wedding, which was a long shirt and 3-quarter-length harem trousers, also bare-footed. Femi came before him and the two took each other's hands warmly and compassionately, so powerfully that they could feel each others' heartbeats. This was the moment.

Alex sent Femi one of his cocky little winks which made the butterflies in her stomach disperse and travel all though her veins; she loved it when Alex did that.

The Egyptian priest cleared his throat and was about to speak his first word, when something very unnerving interrupted the special moment. The ground gave a most concerning tremble which started out as a light vibration, but soon grew to an aggressive rumbling, something so strong that people in their seats were shaking and the decorations around the alter were falling over and breaking apart.

Alex pulled Femi to him, arm around her back to keep her up, and she clung to him in response while letting her eyes flicker all around in panic. What was happening? And why the hell did it have to happen on her dream day?

"Jerry _marvin_ - would you look at that!" Jonathan exclaimed breathlessly.

Anyone who had heard him followed his stunned gaze out into the distance. There, before the cliffs, the ground had literally broken apart as if some kind of monster was rising up from beneath it. And there was, a monster, only in the form of thousands of dead corpses that suddenly began scrambling up over the sides of the large bowel in the ground, screeching and roaring - and heading straight for the wedding.

"This way!" Alex shouted, catching everyone's attention.

But many people weren't listening and instead started running in their own directions based upon their weak human instincts; fear was an overpowering thing at that. Femi's father, Brian, attempted to move towards the alter where his two children and son-in-law stood, but the current of madly rushing guests had locked him in its grasp and he was being pushed all over the place.

"Daddy!" Femi cried out to him, and broke free of Alex's arm, "daddy, no!"

Alex tried to run after her, "Femi don't!"

Unfortunately, someone blocked off his path and knocked him backwards, where he should have fallen over if it hadn't been for Carter catching him supportively. Femi dodged in and out of her terrified guests who were running about like headless chickens and clueless herding sheep, with each step bringing her closer to her poor, helpless father. Femi pushed with all her might and extended her arm out at its full length to try and grasp her father's hand, but it was too late. The ground started to tremble once more, but it felt far closer this time.

Everyone let out frantic screams in the distance. Femi and her father had no idea what they were panicking about now, until the ground itself shifted violently beneath their feet. No longer was their any foundation to stand upon; no longer was their support or the feel of safety. The ground was crumbling. And just like that, Femi was falling, tumbling downwards into the darkness with her stomach forming sickening flips and the echoing cries of her doomed family and friends accompanying her to her death...

Lightening struck and created a sudden, startling _crack_, which awoke Femi from her insane nightmare. She bolted upright in the bed and stared wide-eyed down at the white sheets until, finally, she remembered to breathe and began panting softly to herself in the darkness. With the back of her hand she wiped her sweaty forehead and pushed her curls back off her hot shoulders to let the air get to her neck and sooth her. It was raining heavily outside and the raindrops were tip-tapping hypnotically on the window and creating water patterns on the walls from the glow of the moonlight.

It was all a dream - the whole thing - she was here - still alive - in her safe home - and unmarried.

Femi was so distracted by her disturbing dream that she hadn't heard Alex stirring in the sheets beside her. He sighed, gently, upon sitting up, and moved over to Femi to place his hands on her naked shoulders; Femi jumped a little.

"Bad dream?" He asked, planting a kiss on the side of her neck.

Femi lowered her head, closing her tired eyes, "It happened again. This time it was our wedding."

Alex looked a little uncomfortable, "Well, uh- that's a new one."

Femi paused for a moment, as if running a million thoughts through her dishevelled mind.

"Why do you always do that?" Femi sighed in disappointment, looking around at him.

"Do what?" Alex asked seemingly innocent.

"Whenever something ... connected to the idea of a wedding and marriage surfaces... you just... stiffen." Femi whispered in anticipation.

It proved that Femi was really confused and concerned by the situation as she couldn't think of some other intelligent way to explain it. And in Femi's case that very rarely happened. She always had time for her impressive vocabulary, but clearly not now at this moment.

Alex gave a light shrug as if to summon away the intense atmosphere, "Do I? I don't know I'm doing it. Come on, let's go back to sleep eh? We've all got a bust day tomorrow."

Femi sighed to herself, as she knew that Alex was just trying to avoid the topic at hand, like he always did. This was the issue right now, something that eventually occurred within any romantic, happy relationship. It had been almost 2 years since they met on their insane journey.

"You don't ever want to marry me... do you, Alex." Femi rhetorically asked in a low, light tone of a dull wish never to be sparked alight.

Alex rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, not knowing what to say, but guiltily watching his beautiful girlfriend glow in the faint moonlight. He never knew what to say or do when she put him on the spot like that - Alex was never used to straightforwardness, but being with Femi it seemed to happen a lot. Or maybe it was just women in general? They like their answers - and their bloody annoying questions.

"I've never said that to you," Alex attempted to play it safe, "I've never said never. Look, come on baby, just relax. That dream's got you all worked up over nothin'."

"...I'm not so sure the dream was the nightmare." Femi muttered coldly and in soft disappointment.

The two of them were in the middle of an intense, difficult, yet terribly romantic and passionate moment, where neither of them knew the next thing to say yet they knew exactly how their feelings were raging and what the issue at hand was. The rain pattered, the moon reflected in water streams upon the walls, their shadowed faces looked beyond gorgeous to each other - the moment was just perfect for utter romance, so why did it feel so distant and uncomfortable? But before either of them had to make the "first move" and revive the pace of the scenario, the bedroom door suddenly opened with a jittery creek and stole both their attentions.

In wobbled a partially cautious, most definitely drunk Jonathan, who was looking around with squinted eyes and who gave a hiccup upon dragging his soaking, heavy feet through the room - even though he was trying to tip-toe and keep quiet. He looked over his shoulder and held his finger to his wet, rain-covered lips to make an anxious 'ssshhhh' sound to the person who then followed him in from the outside hall; Carter. Femi and Alex remained totally still as they watched like surprised owls. Were they so drunk that they didn't even know which room they had entered?

"What a night, eh?" Carter drunkenly whispered as he crept in.

Jonathan half-laughed and half snorted, "I tell you, chap - tonight is the beginning of all our wishes. Tonight's the rich when we'll become night!"

Carter looked a little confused under the glowing of the moonlight, "D-don't you mean... Tonight's the night we'll become rich?"

Jonathan froze in wonder, as if impersonating a puzzled Professor of philosophy, "Isn't that what I said?"

Carter thought, also, looking totally brain-dead, "... Maybe. What did _I_ say again?"

Finally, Alex and Femi decided to step in and notify the two drunken idiots that they had stepped into the wrong house, let alone the wrong **room**! Alex sarcastically cleared his throat and Jonathan, who was starting to take his boot off, froze in worry but kept his back to the bed as his mind raced with many different dangerous scenarios in which his life could have been taken. Carter, on the other hand, just blinked foolishly in realising what was going on.

"Good night, fellas?" Alex dryly asked - clearly, he didn't really care at all how their night at been.

Jonathan spun round at once, "Alex! My dear, baby, handsome nephew! I had no idea you'd moved into our apartment!"

"We didn't." Femi bit in annoyance, looking out the window sourly and uncomfortably, holding the blanket up to her strapped top that hardly covered her.

This was so typical. All these two ever did since they had become friends was go out, get drunk, make trouble, haggle for money in other ways that meant they could avoid getting real jobs, and of course pestering Femi and Alex for company.

"Oh," Jonathan looked back at Carter as if he had no idea, "this... this isn't our place, old chap. What on earth were you thinking, bringing me back here at this time? Don't you know these intoxicating lovers are trying to sleep?"

Carter looked highly offended, but he didn't get a chance to verbally object to the accusation brought upon him as Jonathan had already rushed over to him, grabbed his arm, and swung the bedroom door open for their quick escape. Before he left, Carter looked back one last time to send his baby sister a cheesy grin.

"Night, Femi-doodles." He cheerfully sang, followed by a visiting hiccup.

Femi rolled her eyes and gave a grunt of distaste in response. Once the bedroom door was shut and darkness fell upon them again, Alex and Femi set still and quiet to listen to the two drunks hobbling and laughing down the hall towards the front door... which finally opened, and thudded shut, to announce their absence. The apartment was quiet again, at last. And that meant the awkward moment was now floating back between the two bothered lovers.

Femi eventually heaved a sigh and gently, casually, lowered back down onto her pillow and remained with her back to Alex, who was still sitting up and looking at the door in annoyance towards Jonathan and Carter's previous interruption. But soon his eyes travelled down onto her back, where he studied her dainty shimmering shoulders under the silver night's light, and his anger softened with his gradual guild. The way her shoulder blades curved and her soft skin seemed like warm milk. The feather-soft curls brushing against the back of her slim neck. He didn't want to show her that he was bothered by the issue they had just been discussing, but if Femi had seen his eyes as another lightening flashed through the window, it would have been obvious that the emotion was definitely trying to come through his eyes.

Alex moved down upon his back and tucked his hands behind his head like an extra pillow and let the thin, silken sheet cover just the lower half of his muscly body. He was rather hot all of a sudden, perhaps due to the intense conversation that had just taken place? He watched the reflection on the ceiling of the dribbling rain running down the windows and allowed his mind to secretly wander. Questions, issues, memories and wonders of the future - all about him and Femi and his life, of course - just humane thoughts, really.

Femi then rolled over without Alex expecting her to and she draped her arm over his strong stomach, holding him tight, and she rested her cheek on his bare chest just under his chin. Alex, a little taken back, stayed still for just a moment until he could be sure that it was ok for him to hold her back; her warmth made him smile and he soon wrapped his arm around her shoulder in return.

"I do love you." Femi whispered passionately in a type of apology, and as if she had to remind him.

Alex gave a soft, quick chuckle to himself and started to toy with Femi's hair soothingly to help her relax more, bur also because he adored the feel of her soft hair between his fingers. It let him know that she was really there, and that she was his. And like that, the two complicated lovers fell asleep in each other's arms to the music of the rain and thunder, in a world that was very much about to be turned upside down, yet again, for them both.

**Sneak Preview of Chapter 2:**

Out of nowhere, catching him completely off-guard, an arm snatched out and gripped him by his upper arm quite ruthlessly.

"A-a-ah!" Jonathan panted with a jump, "I say, chap, what's with all the"-

Jonathan cut himself off in mid-sentence once he had turned and seen who his attacker was. To his surprise, it wasn't Alex or Femi. The man himself was relatively normal-looking in his explorer hat and beige hiking attire, but it was the pen-knife that he had secretly held to Jonathan's gut under his jacket. No one else could see it, but Jonathan could definitely _feel_ it.


	2. Surprise Visit

"Carter?" Femi's formally-toned voice echoed through the Museum, "Carter, will you stop larking about and help me with this crate?"

Seconds later, Carter's head popped round from the corner of a large, wooden box that had many fingers of straw poking out of its corners. There were many others just like it set about the open hall but they were in difference sizes, obviously holding other packed objects of great value. The hall was longer than wide, stretching out so far until it slowly curved around a corner. The ceiling was low and the back wall was made of wide windows to present the view of the enormous racing course outside. This was a private estate, hired for a day of auctioning for wannabe-treasure-hunters and eager collectors.

"How's about a break, Femi?" Carter cheerfully and craftily grinned while strolling towards her like a sneaky cat.

Femi threw a cluster of polystyrene at his head, "No."

Alex chuckled lightly from behind Femi, "You heard the lady, Carter. There's no tellin' what she'll do next when she starts throwin' the dangerous packagin' about."

"Will you two stop it?" Femi angrily scolded the two chuckling men, "the more you insist upon mocking me and lazily jesting about, the longer it will take to unload all this and we really haven't the time to dawdle."

"Why does Jonathan get to slack off?" Carter mumbled on the way to a crate, dragging his feet like a spoilt child.

Femi stopped unwrapping to look at him inquisitively, "What do you mean? Jonathan should be outside bringing in the crates from the van."

The three of them looked round at each other holding the same enquiry in their heads: where was Jonathan? Alex rolled his eyes, huffing, and lifted his hands in defence.

"I'll go." He volunteered with no joy at all.

Femi threw her hands up in distress, "We have less than an hour to set up our stalls until the auctioneers start to arrive. We're never going to make it at this rate!"

Other sellers who were busy setting up their own stalls heard Femi's frantic exclamation and sent her odd glances. She was becoming rather flustered, as she took this very seriously.

"I'll sort it baby, don't worry." Alex held up his hands in defence as he backed away.

So, Alex wandered off to find his useless uncle while Femi and Carter remained at the crates, unwrapping and stacking. This really was going to put them behind if Jonathan didn't help to pull his weight about. Femi was, after all, even paying him and Carter twenty pounds for each hour to help set up and sell the merchandise... then again, perhaps that was their sneaky plan, to take as long as possible.

"Johnny?" Alex called tiredly, "Jonathan, you dumb dog, where are you?"

Alex passed by some other stall-men and women on his way out into the reception of race-course and sent them polite nods and subtle smiles of welcome, even though he knew that he and Femi were going up against them today. He walked out into the parking area where he saw their hired black, shiny tractor sitting as it was in the corner by the large oak tree; boxes sat at the base of its tail where other boxes and bags were still stored and the front passenger door was wide open from where Alex could hear Jazz music on the radio humming. He sighed, knowing exactly what was going on, but walked over nonetheless to take a look to make sure. And just as he had suspected, Jonathan was fast asleep in the seat with his feet up on the dashboard and his head tilted back so that his jaw hang low and allowed him to snore most intrusively upon the peace. Alex smirked to himself and moved round to other side of the car; _beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_, went the horn, under the force of Alex's wicked palm.

"They made me ride the swan, Lucy!" Jonathan blurted out in a daze, bolting awake.

"Swan, ey? Sounds exciting," Alex smirked through the open window, "get up, unc. Femi needs your help - and if you don't work, _I _get her mouth yapping all the way home, k?"

Jonathan rubbed the back of his head as he lazily climbed out of the car, "Crickey, all I did was doze off for a second. I had a late night last night, you know."

Alex smirked at the irony of his statement, "I wouldn't have guessed."

"Old man?" Jonathan stood tall and proud, following Alex back towards the entrance, "I'll have you know, young _sir_ - this body may have it's wrinkles but it is by far a youthful body of glory at that! Even _with _such a hangover!"

But Alex had already disappeared into the entrance... so Jonathan ran along after him, to make sure he wasn't left behind like a loser... And the rest of that morning, amazingly, went just as Femi had hoped for due to the fact that the three men with her held up their promises to work hard and help her set up her stalls and sell the objects. Statues, pendants, scrolls, decorations, clothing, candles, coins, religious items - so many historical artefacts that Femi was making money out of for the London Museum of Antiquities. It was being shut down, due to lack of investors, let alone tourists. It was a hard time for Femi, as she adored working there so much, but at least the manager had given her the responsibilities of finding a new home for them all to other investors and rich collectors. It was all about the money, unfortunately.

"Thank you - have a good day!" Femi smiled sweetly at a leaving customer.

Then, excitedly, she turned to face Alex in a moment of joy, "People really like our stalls. Oh, it's fantastic!"

"Well, we've got some good stuff on show. That, and your brother keeps flirting with the ladies." Alex pointed over her shoulder.

Femi looked over to, indeed, spot her typical brother already charming three elegant ladies in their long, chequered skirts and tight, classy shirts and waist-jackets. Femi simply rolled her eyes and began organising the remaining items for sale.

"I swear, that man will never know the true meaning of chivalry." Femi scowled aloud.

Alex smiled to himself, entertained, and slipped his hands onto Femi's waists to stop her from working away. Feeling his strong grip, she leant up right away and turned in defence to send him a disapproving glare which highly disagreed with the idea of flirting in the middle of business.

Alex tilted his head in light observation, "You're pretty when you're mad, you know that?"

Femi narrowed her merciless eyes at him, "And that's why you argue with me so much?"

"Maybe." Alex smiled and pulled her to him, planting a sweet kiss upon her forehead.

It was moments such as these that made Femi forget any issues or questions that she may have held concerning her relationship with Alex, or even her life, the world. All worries faded and she knew only her warmth for this cocky, irritating, charming, sexy man and how honest he was with his love to her. She knew he cared for her... even if he wasn't ready to marry just yet.

"I hate it when you do that." Femi whispered with her eyes shut.

Alex watched her in admiration, "What?"

She let out a soft giggle, "Manage to make me forget why on earth I'm so impatient with you, Mr. O'Connell."

"Excuse me," A customer interrupted, "is this missing its partner?"

Unfortunately, Femi was forced to leave Alex's loving hands to deal with her customer and make sure they were satisfied fully. And as she worked and politely interacted with the middle-aged woman, Alex watched her from afar. She was such a special lady - the way she smiled, the way she appreciated a person's eyes and their voice and how she responded to them. This woman had stolen his heart for sure.

"Alex," Carter spoke from beside him, "have you seen Johnny about?"

But now that Alex was thinking about it, he actually couldn't remember how long ago it was since he had seen that lazy slacker. Looking around, he couldn't spot him anywhere. Oh, dammit, where _was _that idiot?

"In fact, dear lady, I know for certain that these green jewels do not even compare to the deep complexity of your own glassy eyes." Jonathan purred elegantly to the lady before him.

The redheaded woman giggled with her friends in flattery, "Stop, Mr. O'Connell..."

"It's true," Jonathan smiled flirtatiously, but also quite childishly, "never have I quite been captured like this before, just from one glance."

"He's quite the poet, Ruth." One of the woman's friends giggled into Ruth's ear excitedly. 

Jonathan was feeling quite confident and proud of himself. The naive player was already thinking of the next romantic thing to say when, out of nowhere, catching him completely off-guard, an arm snatched out and gripped him by his upper arm quite ruthlessly.

"A-a-ah!" Jonathan panted with a jump, "I say, chap, what's with all the"-

Jonathan cut himself off in mid-sentence once he had turned and seen who his attacker was. To his surprise, it wasn't Alex or Femi. The man himself was relatively normal-looking in his explorer hat and beige hiking attire, but it was the pen-knife that he had secretly held to Jonathan's gut under his jacket. No one else could see it, but Jonathan could definitely _feel_ it.

"Remember me, old _friend_?" The man spoke threateningly.

Jonathan grimaced nervously, "How could I forget that breath."

The man sneered in offence, "I bet you never thought you'd see me again, right? Snatching the gold then running off like the fox you are. Pity you're not as cunning as one."

"Actually," Jonathan held up an erect finger, "foxed cannot hop, Carl. You should know that at your age."

Carl angrily moved the tip of the blade closer, "Don't mock me, Johnny. You know what I came for - so you're going help me out, aren't you, like a good chap."

Jonathan gulped nervously - how was he going to explain this to the ladies? Nervously, he looked over his shoulder to send them a casual little chuckle so to excuse himself.

"If you'll bear with me one moment, ladies - I have some short business to attend." He stated with a cheesy wink.

The women waved goodbye to their handsome friend, but once his back was turned to them his expression of wisdom and grace immediately formed into fear and panic. What was going to happen to him?

Jonathan let Carl start leading him away through the crowds, "You have to understand Carl, old chap - it might already be on its way some place else. I-I might not be able to"-

"Don't spill me that rubbish," Carter snapped, on the edge of some panic now, "you'll give me back what you stole or you can be a dead man just like I'll be. You get it? If I go down, you go down with me."

"The boss not too happy eh?" Jonathan gave a careless little chuckle, "didn't I tell you to be your own manager in this business?"

Carl pushed him angrily, "I mean it, Jonathan, don't test me. I haven't got any time to waste on your ridic"-

"Unc?" Alex's voice interrupted the intense moment.

The two men whipped their heads round just in time to see Alex stop before them with an inquisitive, wary confused across his tanned face. He seemed to already be suspecting something unfriendly taking place because of the way that Carl was holding Jonathan so strictly, but Alex didn't make his thoughts too obvious for cautious reasons. The three men exchanged glances with each other - Alex studied, Jonathan pleaded for help, while Carl's eyes revealed nothing but warning and bitterness. It was totally clear what was going on.

"This a friend of yours, unc?" Alex suspiciously asked as he walked towards them.

"Johnny boy never mentioned me?" Carl stared at Alex with mistrust, "now I'm hurt."

Alex studied him in dislike, "I just bet you are..."

Carl was actually quite refined-looking. Not scruffy, tall, carried himself well. He wasn't like the typical thugs that ended up chasing Jonathan for one reason or another; this man looked more part of a school than anything else! Carl narrowed his hazel eyes threateningly as he tried to think-out a quick plan of action before it got too messy. It was just him against this young-looking chap, who didn't seem all that tough. Carl was thinking about taking action when Carter stepped into the scene and came up beside Alex, folding his arms authoritatively. Now, it was two against one.

"Carter!" Femi's breathless, scolding voice exclaimed, and she soon was approaching him, "and Alex? What on earth do you both think you're doing running off like that for so long? Do you know how many customers a single woman can serve at once? I didn't even"-

Carl took Femi's arrival as an opportunity to flee, so he suddenly threw Jonathan towards them all, where he clumsily knocked straight into Femi and they were both sent crumbling to the floor with light yelps; Carl took off to the right in an escape which caused a few innocent bystanders to be knocked aside or down to the floor. At once, Alex and Carter sprinted off after him through the gasping, gossiping auctioneers and their customers but tried to be a little more considerate to their health by not bashing into them as often or as harshly. This man was quite a quick runner, but not quick enough. Alex and Carter steered round to the right and came out onto the balcony of the building which over-looked the miles of racing courses that spread over the grassy land - but their attention was on something more important.

"That way!" Alex exclaimed to Carter and pointed.

Carter followed his direction and re-entered the auctions through a passing entranceway, while Alex continued racing along the balcony to the end glass door which led him down a spiralling set of concrete steps. Down, down, down Alex zoomed, his feet moving so fast that he was amazed he didn't trip over them! The last set of ten steps arrived around the next corner and Alex took a mighty leap to save himself time, and he landed at the door just as it had swung shut after someone (clearly Carl) had just run through it.

Alex ran outside with a chest of anger and bravery and a hell of a lot of energy - but when he saw Carl, standing with a group of at least six other tough-looking, truck-driving business men, he sort of nearly tripped over his feet again in his sudden attempt to stop in his tracks. Wow. Things had suddenly become a lot more complicated... Carter burst out from the main entrance doors and, at also noticing the uneven numbers opposing him and Alex, he jumped back to blink cluelessly.

"Very well." Carter muttered to himself, in his now nervous state.

Carl just smiled; he had trapped them.

**Sneak Preview at Chapter 3:**

Carter and Jonathan looked a little embarrassed; Jonathan spoke, "Ok, so maybe we had a few to drink..."

Alex snickered cynically.

"But we were speaking truth," Carter jumped in persuasively, "we don't know much about this artefact... but the man who gambled it used it to try and prove his cocky confidence. Silly fool. He was bound to lose it. It's worth a lot, I know it."


	3. Jon and Carter Do It Again

_And so this is where our story was left off_... Carter and Alex were standing in the small parking area of the race-course with a group of thuggish, angry Englishmen who were grunting and sneering quite aggressively. They were ready for a good brawl.

"Ok boys," Alex carefully spoke, while glaring, "someone care to explain to me why you jumped my unc like that?"

"I wouldn't have expected old Johnny boy to tell anyone," The lead man, Carl, snickered in disfavour, "he's quite talented in the arts of lies and keeping secrets - even from his own family, I assume."

Alex's eyebrows stiffened in anger and offence, "What secrets?"

"He's got something that belongs to me," Carl got straight to the point, "and I came to collect it. Simple enough for you?"

"What?" Jonathan tried to laugh his way out of the situation like he usually did when he knew he was in trouble, "come now! We can sort this out!"

"Yes - you can return to me what's rightfully mine!" Carl shouted at him fervently.

Jonathan wasn't impressed with his suggestion, "That's a rubbish negotiation!"

"Alright!" Alex barked out to try and stop the argument escalating, "wait a minute, _dammit_... Look, Carl, whoever you are... We don't want any trouble here today. I got my girl inside and I know she's gonna' give me an earful for the next month if I kick all your asses here. She can be yappy sometimes, know what I mean?"

One of Carl's men chuckled deeply, "Sounds like my mother."

A few of the other men uttered light laughs and chortles from their positions around the jeep. Carl, however, kept a stern glare going straight at Alex.

"If we start a scene here, you know the authorities will come flooding down. And I'm willing to bet a lot more than whatever it is you came here for that there're plenty of people inside who saw you start all this. That's a lot of witnesses... against the five of you." Alex cleverly bluffed.

Carl seemed unsure, but held his ground, "Don't test me."

"You think I'm bluffing?" Alex sniggered and shrugged, "then go ahead. Start somethin'. Jail's a great place I hear - plenty of mashed peas to eat every morning... I know you don't want that. And I sure as hell don't want you makin' a scene in front of my lady, you got it?" Alex demanded hopefully.

"Has she got you under the thumb?" Carl pouted in pure amusement.

Alex ignored his mocking question, "Get out of here while you can. You and I both don't want to do this today. Not here. Not now."

As Carl begun to deliberate in his simple mind of aggression and violence, Femi came jogging out through the open door and entered the intense atmosphere of the parking lot. When she suddenly noticed the group of thugs on her left, she came to a skidding halt and moved back against the side of a nearby car cautiously to keep distance between them. She looked over, and there was Alex, watching her carefully and protectively. Then an oblivious Jonathan came rushing out from the doors, panting and dragging his feet, and Femi had to grab him by his shirt and yank him over to her side before he got too close to his dangerous enemies.

"Cheers." Jonathan gulped to her, once he caught up with what had happened.

"Well?" Alex barked impatiently, and with warning; he wanted them to leave now, "what's your answer huh?"

Carl lifted his chin to try and appear superior, "... Alright. I'll give you that one. But you can bet I'll be seeing you soon - and when I do, I won't hold back. You had better be ready for me, because I intend on having you and your _precious _uncle's faces under the soles of my boots. Well not mine - I wouldn't get blood on them. Ruins the leather. But _their_ boots."

He looked around at his friends to reveal exactly _who _would be stomping on their faces. Jonathan's hand moved to the collar of his shirt and he gave another gulp, while Femi stepped in front of him quite protectively. Oh no. He were go; she always had something to say.

"You can try." She snapped most bravely and assertively.

Alex rolled his eyes, while Carl and his men exchanged interested little chuckles and glances of amusement. This upper-class lady had some fire in her.

"Feisty," Carl eyed her up and down "is this your - what word did you use to describe her - "yappy" lady you were telling us about, O'Connell?"

Femi snapped her eyes onto Alex in offence, "_Yappy_?"

"No- I didn't"- Alex rolled his eyes and clenched his fists, "damnit, Femi, will you just go back inside already?"

"Oh, I see - you want to get rid of me so I'll stop _yapping_, is that it?" Femi stared at him and grinded her teeth angrily to keep calm.

Alex was becoming frustrated, "Look, forget what that toad says"-

Carl grunted at hearing the insult, "Careful, boy."

"Back off - I'm in the middle of this," Alex pointed at Carl, then went back to Femi, "baby, we can talk about this _later_, ok?"

His tone was slightly patronising, but he was clearly just anxious and frustrated with all these issues that were taking place at once. There was too much going on; Femi was offended, and so was Carl but Alex was willing to bet more money on Carl causing a bigger scene than Femi. A scene including bullets, punching and nasty consequences of stiff knuckles and stomachs. Alex could really do without that now. Femi, eventually, backed off into a silence of defeat but folded her arms over her chest and stiffened her lips in a manner of sulking. Alex could now turn his full attention back onto Carl.

"Just go," Alex demanded quietly, "any moment now you'll hear the sirens. You know I'm right, buddy."

Carl remained still and stubborn just for a few extra seconds to give the impression that he wasn't easily bossed around... but eventually, he did leave. Him and his men climbed back into the jeep and they all continued to glare and sneer at Alex and his group as the vehicle turned around and drove off up the sloping road. It was only when they were out of sight that the atmosphere lightened - though the commotion wasn't over yet.

Alex looked to Femi; her bottom lip was stiff, her eyes twinkled in embarrassment, and her cheeks were blushing in rage. Why would he say such a thing about her, and to an enemy also? Alex took a guilty breath to say something in his defence but Femi had already turned and stormed back through the building entrance before he could utter a single vowel or consonant. He had trodden in it this time.

"Well, that was rather hectic, I'll say," Jonathan chuckled innocently to try and lighten the mood, "the last thing I'd expect on such a jolly day, eh?"

But Alex didn't respond with any 'light-hearted' words or expression. He just stared, dark and hard, as if scolding him with all the power in the world just through his eyes. This was all Jonathan's fault - as usual. His clumsy, reckless uncle (as Femi would say) had gone and blown up another huge dilemma. What had happened this time?

"Inside," Alex snapped and started walking inside, "We'll talk about this later, unc. Just keep Femi happy at her stall for now, dammit."

His voice was mean. Alex moved on inside and left Jonathan to exchange nervous looks with Carter. The two of them knew this next chat was going to be one of anger, of 'telling off' and of Jonathan having to apologise for being in a wrong that he had no idea he was even in. Carter felt sympathy for him... but he did it to himself, really.

"So?" Alex tried to ask patiently, several hours later, "who were they?"

Alex, Femi, Carter and Jonathan were in an empty waiting room of the racecourse. It was almost 5pm and everyone had left long ago, including all of the other stall owners and sellers. Now, it was just Femi and her group left behind to pack away their tables and make sure they had all things with them before leaving. The sun was beginning to set and was casting a tender, warm butterfly of evening fluttering about the open hall. It was peaceful but certainly conflicted with the mood of the room.

Jonathan took a deep breath, "Last night... we met a few chaps, eager to do a little fun business..."

"You mean gambling." Femi shook her head in disapproval.

Jonathan gave a little chuckle and smiled, nodding, "Well done, Femi."

Alex gritted his teeth, "What _happened._"

Jonathan stroked his head stressfully, "Well one of the guys told me about a joint they all go to now and then through the year. Down town. In a little shack by the docks... Me and Carter, we... sort of... we've been trying it out for a week or so."

"That's a surprise." Alex rolled his eyes at the typicality of his uncle.

"Yes - but," Jonathan held his hands up in defence, "We didn't take any of it seriously. It was just a bit of fun."

"It's true," Carter piped up like a nervous child, "We really were taking it easy. We were only having some light-hea"-

Femi snapped her eyes onto Carter and cut him off in a moment of deploring and forbiddance; she was going to have a 'word' with him later, too. It was like he and Jonathan had suddenly become two naughty children and Femi and Alex were the parents lecturing and scolding them into place. Even though they were so much older!

"just a bit of fun?" Alex threw up his hand in deep frustration, "look where that nearly got us? Look at what we're in _this _time!"

"Alex..." Jonathan seemed to unravel his guilt now.

"What?" Alex stepped towards him in a moment of panic, "this isn't the first time you've messed things up for everyone. You and Carter together're just mayhem makers. Curse the fate that brought _you _two together. You never learn."

Femi stepped in to clam everyone down, "Give them a chance to explain."

Carter pointed in relief at Femi, "Yes! See, my baby sis speaks sense. I knew she'd understand her brother."

"As uncultivated, selfish and ruthlessly dense as they both are," Femi stared at her brother in a stale, bitter anger, then looked to Alex calmly, "we need to get to the bottom of this."

Alex took her calming words to heart and slowly managed to calm himself down. Nodding, breathing heavy, he ran his fingers through his sandy hair and paced a couple of times left and right to wait for him to recollect his poise and restraint.

"Carry on." Alex muttered as a sign for his uncle to continue.

"So I joined up with this chap - Carl; he seemed like a man of business, you know? He knew the rules, played fairly but determinedly; we liked his style."

Carter nodded eagerly and continued on his part, "We gambled as a team, working together - half and half - sticking to our techniques."

_"Cheating._" Femi sighed out the obvious.

Jonathan thought for a moment, "Uh, well - I wouldn't put it as bluntly as that..."

"Cheating." Alex repeated sourly in annoyance.

Jonathan puffed his chest out, "Everyone cheats at some point in their lives, young Alex. What we do is fight for our own."

"Ok," Femi rolled her eyes, "so what changed?"

Carter pushed on, "We gambled at the weekend - us two with Carl and his boys as one team. What each of us won we split between us... until we won the other night."

"Now listen - we gambled and won that item fair and square," Jonathan spoke out like a desperate child trying to defend himself, "but we heard it was worth a hell of a lot... so we took it, and split. We didn't want to share it with Carl and his boys - they always looked so miserable anyway! And if it wasn't for us they would have definitely lost it!"

"Definitely." Carl nodded proudly.

"Carl would never have known, anyhow, if it weren't for the bull-headed bloke on the door. He'll do anything for a pricey note or two." Jonathan complained like a spoilt brat.

Carter nodded in agreement; Alex started pacing and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Ok, ok, ok," He huffed, frustrated, "so you and Carl teamed up to split whatever winnings you made, but this time you cheated him and ran with it all. Now he's found you and wants what's his - but you won't give it?"

"Why should we?" Jonathan moved towards his nephew hopefully, "it's worth more than all of Femi's dad's cars put together! Carl's old; he's got his business covered. Sometimes in life you have to be crafty to be successful. It's called being human."

"It's called being a damn nuisance on my sleep," Alex bit angrily at him, "last night when you drunken idiots barged into our room - that was the night, wasn't it. You'd come back from the gambling. That was the night you'd escaped with the sharings."

Femi stood tall as she suddenly remembered, "Oh yes... Yes, of course! Jonathan said something about all your wishes coming true."

Carter and Jonathan looked a little embarrassed; Jonathan spoke, "Ok, so maybe we had a few to drink..."

Alex snickered cynically.

"But we were speaking truth," Carter jumped in persuasively, "we don't know much about this artefact... but the man who gambled it used it to try and prove his cocky confidence. Silly fool. It's worth a lot, I know it."

Carter nodded, "Perhaps millions."

"Even billions!" Jonathan grinned in excitement.

"Down boy," Alex held his hand out to him patronisingly; Jonathan and Carter exchanged guilty glances, "... now look. Grab this artefact - whatever the hell it is. We'll take it to Femi's dad. If anyone knows what it is and where it came from, it'll be him."

Femi nodded in agreement, "He should be in the Museum until late tonight. He's helping organise the items for selling."

"We should go as soon as possible," Alex returned her determined, serious nod, "something tells me Carl and his boys'll find us sooner than he promised."

"What is it, anyhow?" Femi curiously asked; her fascinated, curious side sparkled in her eyes.

"A ring." Jonathan admitted proudly.

"Right… A ring…" Alex repeated in a low tone; he couldn't understand what all the fuss was about for a ring!

"It's at our flat - safe." Carter added helpfully.

"Well then let's fetch it at once. Clearly, we have no time to lose," Femi gave a single, steadfast nod, "we don't want Carl turning up when we're empty-handed. We wouldn't want him _yapping _at us now, would we."

The last part of her comment was evidently aimed straight at Alex, especially due to the fact that her annoyed eyes glanced over at him so to reveal that she was still sore about what had happened earlier. Alex, sighing, knew he was in the "dog house" and walked out after her when Femi quickly marched out of the exit to head to the van. Carter and Jonathan were left to look at each other and shrug.

"Why is it always us?" Carter looked rather clueless.

"I ask myself that all the time," Jonathan sighed sadly, "they just don't understand our passions, old chap."

With that, the two followed out into the car-park just in time to see Femi rushing up to the front passenger's seat, and Alex chasing after her. She managed to hastily climb up into the seat and slam the door after her just seconds before Alex had made it; clearly, she wasn't in the mood to talk about how she was upset, but she wanted to make Alex suffer and feel really guilty. Typical woman, eh? But it was working.

"Get in." Alex sourly demanded to Carter and Jonathan.

Jonathan found it slightly amusing, "Alright, alright - no need to take out your guilt on us little nephew."

Alex bit his tongue as he marched past them. He knew he had been in the wrong, but he also couldn't stand the fact that everyone knew it! He blamed Jonathan and Carter for it; if they hadn't had caused this trouble with Carl then Alex would never have had a stand-off with Carl and mentioned how 'yappy' Femi could be, then she would never have known… But deep down, Alex felt the guilt. He felt the stupidity. He had hurt her feelings but he was just too stubborn to apologise just yet.

And besides, right now there were bigger issues at hand.

**Sneak Preview at Chapter 4:**

The ring ignited in a fierce, brilliant yellow light that forced everyone to grimace and cover their eyes for protection. A strong wind blew about the room - all from this tiny little _gem_. For moments it seemed to last until, finally, it began to dy down, as if granting everyone mercy from their severe bracing and fearing.


	4. Quetzalcoatl

The Museum of Antiquities looked severely bigger than usual without almost half of its consistencies; tall statues, glass displays, coffins and decorations hung up on the stone walls. It was late, but the lights kept the place bright for everyone. Femi sat beside Evy on a long, wooden crate that was ready for packing, while Jonathan and Carter stood further away with their arms folded in a sulking manner. Rick stood in the middle of the room beside Brian, who wore a magnifying glass head-piece as he studied an apple-green ring that sat in its navy, tattered box. Alex was leaning against a stone pillar with his hands in his pockets. Everyone waited quietly for Brian to do what he needed in order to answer all their questions. Well, until someone finally cracked.

"So what is it?" Evy anxiously asked out of the quiet.

"It's a ring, honey..." Rick dryly stated, in a somewhat sarcastic manner.

Evy made a soft 'tsk' and rolled her eyes at him.

Brian heaved a sigh of aggravation and shook his head, "Well, it an expensive one, at that. Emeralds in antiquity were mined by the Egyptians and in Austria, as well as Swat in northern Pakistan. Colombian emeralds are generally the most prized due to their transparency and fire - like this one. It's a rare one, at that. Some of the rarest emeralds come from three main emerald mining areas in Colombia: Muzo, Coscuez, and Chivor," Brian paused and looked up at Rick, "I'd say this is where it's from."

Rick nodded with intrigue and took the box to hold it up high and watch the pale ring sparkle in the light, "Nice..."

Carter brushed his foot across the floor like a shy child, "How much d'you think it's worth?"

"I wouldn't call it _safe_, let alone sensible to tell you that." Brian chuckled softly in amusement.

Femi stood up from the crate on which she sat to move towards them in her eagerness for more information, "So that's it? That's why they want it so badly? The price?"

"Why is it that everyone in this family expects a ring to be more than just a ring...? Kind of concerning." Rick shook his head as he spoke aloud to himself.

"Well," Brian nodded to his daughter as he removed his head-piece, "it does indeed _reek_ of money..."

"Well that's that - finders keeps, ey?" Carter brushed his hands together hopefully and gave Jonathan a nudge in the side - but he wasn't listening.

In fact, Jonathan had been awfully quiet... No one had noticed him staring at the ring in deep, entranced thought... It was as if his personality had been put on hold, along with any coherence to anything going on around him. All he could see was that ring... He stood still, head hanging slightly, and his slightly squinted eyes were staring directly at the beautiful ring as if it had completely captured him in a spell. No one else noticed this, however, with everything else going on.

"But it has some writing on it." Brian announced, stopping the bickering between his two children.

"Writing?" Everyone but Rick and Jonathan repeated in curiosity.

Brian nodded, quite calm, as if nothing bothered him, "At first I automatically decided it was the language of the Aztecs, but then I took a closer look and there are slight alterations which lead me to believe that the language goes further back to a more ancient time."

"So whose language is it?" Evy followed Femi in edging towards the men and the ring, as if trying to suck in more information.

"Well... Long before the Aztecs came to the Valley of Mexico, the land had seen the rise and decline of a number of other tribal groups. One of these groups built the great city of Teotihuacán. From Teotihuacán, its people, called the Totonacs, built an empire. This was during the period of the fourth to the sixth centuries A.D. About 600 A.D. the empire of Teotihuacán was overthrown and centuries later another empire was created by the people of the city of Tollan, known as the Toltecs. Their empire lasted from about the tenth to the twelfth century. Near the end of the twelfth century Tula was captured and burned by its enemies. The Aztecs did not come to the Valley of Mexico until the fourteenth century... which means... as this language is older than the Aztecs, Tula's _or _the Toltecs, that it belongs only to the first tribe." Brian waffled away, although everyone but Alex seemed to be following perfectly.

Alex nodded in understanding, "So it's the eldest group - Totonacs?"

"600 AD... _My_..." Evy exhaled in awe, eyes twinkling with that usual spark of amazement.

Rick smiled at her out of the corner of his eye; he loved the look she got when something deliciously ancient came across her path. Much to say the same for Femi, though she was younger and hadn't gained enough experience to be as excited as his dear wife.

"They speak of a God here - Quetzalcoatl." Brian mused aloud.

"Bloody _what_?" Carter snorted in confusion.

"Quetzalcoatlus - a type of Dinosaur?" Rick coolly asked, lifting his head.

"Ppterodactyl, to be more precise, yes," Brian nodded, "but in reverse psychology, most myths are created in order to cover up a truth. Meaning, if this God of theirs really did exist then the Pterodactyl was probably more than just a Dinosaur..."

"You really believe that?" Femi asked in sarcasm.

"Darling, after everything we have seen..." Brian smiled softly, "I will believe anything."

Femi chuckled silently, quite dryly, as if resenting her mad life even though she agreed with her father. He was speaking the truth: Mummies, dead armies, visions in a blue fire... It was at times like these when Femi realised how insane her life had been and although she was grateful that it had led her to Alex and her new wonderful family, sometimes she... wished the story was different. A little more - normal.

"I repeat," Carter pointed his index finger erect, in a clueless manner, "Quetzy-whatty-_whoie_?"

Brian sent him an offended little glimpse, as if his son should know better, "_Quetzalcoalt_ was related to Gods of the wind, of Venus, of the dawn, of merchants and of arts, crafts and knowledge. He was also the patron God of the priesthood."

"My, my, my, oh my..." Evy was almosy quivering with excitement and her hands were fluttering all over the place like butterflies that had just escaped from their coccoons.

Brian set the ring back down upon the crate before continuing to educate everyone with the history of the Totonacs. As he moved away, captivating everyone with his words and brilliant hand gestures, Jonathan moved for the first time. Letting his arms drop to his sides, he pushed forwards somewhat like a sleeping-walking zombie that had lost any control of its senses. He slowly wandered past Brian, who was busy waffling away, and over to where the ring was waiting for him; no one noticed him while listening to Brian's charming words. Jonathan's hand reached out remove the ring from the box to study it in a deep concentration. His brow furrowed, lips tight, cheeks tense, he went to slide the ring onto his middle finger.

Evy finally noticed him, but a little too late...

"Jonathan, no!" She gasped in a wave of alarm.

Rick made to dart in his direction, but before he could even reach Jonathan, the ring was on. The ring ignited in a fierce, brilliant yellow light that forced everyone to grimace and cover their eyes for protection. A strong wind blew about the room, all from this tiny little gem. For moments it seems to last until, finally, it began to die down and as if granting everyone mercy from their severe bracing.

One by one, everyone opened their eyes to see what was happening. Jonathan had his head pulled back and his hand stretched out to keep the burning light away from his face as far as he could. Then... smoke... rising out from the ring and floating over to a clear space in the area. It swirled and puffed and wriggled in the empty air until it began to form a long, slim shape. Everyone wait in absolute perplexity for whatever, or _whoever_, was within the mist to reveal themselves.

The light faded and the humming turned so solid that it confirmed someone was definitely in the room. And when the mist disappeared like a cloud in the sun, a man stood in its place. He was _huge_, at least four times as tall as everyone else and his arms where the size of Femi altogether! Tanned skin, broad shoulders and muscles covering every inch of his arms, abs and long legs. His dark-purple hair was half up, half down, in kane-roll that stuck to his scalp and then flowed down his bare back. Feather and bones pinned the other pieces in place to the back of his head. He wore a revealing cloth made of animal skin that clung to him around his waist only just to cover up his personal area so that the rest of his skin was free to view – it was covered in symbols, words of another world. His eyes finally opened; they were the same colour as the ring, which Jonathan was still wearing.

And above all things - he had a _wings._

Reptilian, black wings that were folded against his back but arching up above his head - just like a Pterodactyl. The talons at the tip of the wings clicked against each other as he started to wake up properly.

"You summon me, after so many years..." The man spoke slowly and his voice echoed around the hall powerfully.

His voice was deep and held no emotion. He tilted his head back slightly to look around in amazement at everything. No one spoke. Nobody knew _what _to say. They all just... stared up at him, jaws hanging, and eyes wide and falling out of their sockets nearly.

"Where have I been called to?" He asked, almost disgusted.

Femi, who was now beside Alex after he rushed over to her to protect her from the sudden blasting wind, leant over to whisper to him nervously, We can understand him?"

Alex nodded once. A stern nod. A wary nod. Still, no one else spoke. It had all happened so fast, and so brilliantly. What was there to say? Everyone had so many questions and couldn't believe what they were actually seeing! A giant man had just come out of a ring! Even though the O'Connell's and Reynolds had seen so many fantastical and unexplainable things in their lives, each one still seemed to shock them all the more than the last.

The native man closed his astonishingly bright eyes to inhale a long, deep sniff through his nostrils to try and locate something. And when he had, those pools of acid green darted open again to land directly upon Jonathan and he began moving towards him with thunderous, slow steps that made the room tremble gently.

"_You _summoned me," He stated upon advancing towards him, "_you _have called forth for my divine powers."

Evy felt the hand of protective anger slam into her back, giving her the kick-start she needed to go over to where her brother stood. She made sure her dark stare remained upon this tall, strange man. Rick followed after her, just to be sure she was safe too.

The man stopped to observe Evy in a demeaning form of eyeing her up and down, "Who are you?"

"I am Evy. Evy Reynolds. Egyptologist and Librarian..." Evy spoke nervously before thinking; what a random thing to say to someone clearly not from this world.

"Hmph," He gave a conceited raise of his eyebrows, "how uninteresting."

Evy was obviously offended, "I beg your pard"-

"Who are you?" Femi interrupted to spare the tension growing any stronger, "and how did that just happen?"

Alex slinked his arm around Femi's waist, protectively, as the man looked over to the person who had asked him such a straightforward question. He appeared to be almost flattered by the question and was preparing himself for an answer he much enjoyed giving. Femi let Alex pull her closely and sent him a bashful little smile, as if letting him know that she was ok. But she wasn't, really. No one was at this moment. Now, everyone knew exactly why Carl and his boys wanted this ring ever so much.

The giant man flicked his hair arrogantly before talking, "I am Quetzalcoatl. I thought you would have known that however, seeing as your comrade was the one to awaken me."

"Woah," Rick sniggered, quite taken back, "I expected something-... you know-... thunderstorms, dinosaur noises - the works..."

Evy tutted at her husband, "Typical..."

"And- you- the ring- it"- Femi couldn't get her sentence out properly, "how?"

Quetzalcoatl tilted his head back to release a calm laugh, "Why is it every time someone summons me, they ask that question? I have seen evolution at it's greatest but I had no idea the price of it all was a vast progression of stupidity."

Nobody look exactly flattered by this comment, but they were all still in so much shock that none of them spoke in defence. There were too many questions flying about their bedazzled brains.

Quetzalcoatl rolled his eyes in boredom and his wings shivered in annoyance, "My people bound me to that ring many, many years ago, to assure that I would always be watching over them. When their Empire was under siege, it was the first thing they feared - losing me, their God. I have waited inside the gem for a new believer to awaken me. And here I stand."

"So you're like a... genie?" Femi sheepishly asked, still clinging to Alex.

Quetzalcoatl huffed tiredly, "No. Why do you humans always insist on asking me that? Genies are myths. _I _am no myth. _I _am a God. And that ring was created from the fires of the temples themselves, amongst the flesh and bone of many of my disciples."

"You mean - they were..."- Evy paused sympathetically.

"Sacrificed?" Quetzalcoatl half-smiled as if entertained by the weak emotions of mankind, "yes. But they chose it."

Jonathan now decided to step in, smiling charmingly as always, "Forgive my interruption oh Lord... _I _was the one who woke you. I am your believer. Is there no.. well, reward, for such an act?"

Quetzalcoatl studied him for a moment before answering, "Whoever summoned me upon wearing the ring is entitled to Four Wishes."

Jonathan blinked, eyes now wide, and smiled at his luck, "Wishes, you say?"

The God Quetzalcoatl gave one, serious nod in reply. Jonathan sniggered an excited little laugh and looked around at everyone to bask in his own amazement. He couldn't believe his luck!

"Why?" An unsettled Rick asked, "what's the catch?"

"Catch?" Quetzalcoatl appeared angered by his question, "are you doubting the light of me? I wish for nothing more than to gift the man who freed me from my dark bed."

In his anger, a thin snake-long tongue flicked out through his lips and created a gentle hisssssss sound. This made everyone apart from Brian and Rick flinch slightly.

"Once again, I can return to my Temples to watch over my people." Quetzalcoatl explained with a harshness to his voice.

Evy shook her head sympathetically, "But... Your people are... Well..."-

Evy didn't want to finish her sentence, for she knew it wouldn't exactly please Quetzalcoatl... But the sadness and apprehension in her eyes told the God exactly all he needed to know. He knew. His people were gone. Dead. Extinct. And as soon as he understood this, his eyes began to shimmer with sparks and waves of acid-green mist. His face began to tremble. Everyone wisely began to ease away from the winged being as they could sense something was about to happen.

And quite rightly, it did, starting with a monstrous cry that flew out from Quetzalcoatl's lips.

With his deafening voice came that outrageous wind once more that seemed to travel up from his diaphragm and out of his throat. Blasting, swirling, almost pushing everyone to the ground this time before they could duck in shelter. Alex acted as Femi's bodyguard by cradling her beneath his body, as did Rick and to Evy. Femi clenched her eyes tightly shut to wait for the drama to end...

Silence...

One by one, they all opened their eyes and looked up to see Quetzalcoatl... vanished. The group stood to their full height and recomposed themselves by brushing their hair back and brushing themselves down from all the straw and dirt that the wind had thrown upon them. It was incredible what they had just seen, but it was also very unsettling.

Everyone looked to Jonathan. He gulped nervously and attempted to lighten the mood with one of his cheerful little grins.

"Well... I think he liked me, eh? Pals already," He goofily commented, "the start of a beatiful friendshi"-

Rick marched straight over to his brother-in-law and grabbed his wrist in a tight grip which made him whimper pathetically. He curled his fingertips around the ring to pull it from his finger... but it wouldn't come off. Even Brian attempted at pulling it, but still there was no success.

"Oh crap," Rick spun away in utter exasperation, "not this again."

"What were you thinking?" Evy shouted at her irresponsible brother, "why would you put that on yourself without knowing what it does?"

"I- I don't know!" Jonathan honestly cried back, "I couldn't stop myself! It was me... but it wasn't me! I don't bloody know why these things always happen to me, but they do!"

"It charmed him," Alex sighed wisely, "Jonathan must have been the weakest out of us all."

"I resent that comment, little man." Jonathan tugged on his waist-jacket sophisticatedly.

Rick turned to Jonathan and pointed authoritatively at his forehead, "Until we figure this all out... Don't - and I mean _don't -_ do anything stupid."

"Me? Of course not!" Jonathan held his hands up innocently, "I don't need anything from that God, anyhow. My life is fine as it is."

Everyone glanced at each other in disbelief. Out of all of them, it had to be Jonathan didn't it...

**Sneak Preview of Chapter 5:**

Running towards the car outside, Alex jumped up onto the bonnet and skillyfully slid over it to land solidly on the other side where the driver's door waited for him. Femi was already inside and had locked her door by the time Alex opened it.

"Quickly!" Carl barked menacingly from the entranceway of the Museum.

Femi gasped just as Alex turned the key and brought the car to live. Carl charged towards the car but, luckily for Femi and Alex, the car sped off before he could reach it. The doors were locked and they had zoomed off to a solid 30 miles per hour and increasing, but Femi still felt terrified that he could get to them.

Femi stopped looking behind her and leant back in her seat, "Where are we going?"

"To get Jonathan and your brother. They're in _biiiiiig _trouble." He grumbled, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.


	5. Chased Again

Last night, so much had happened. It was as if everyone was still trying to ingest seeing what they did. Yes, they had seen a lot of unusual magic and the walking dead, but they still needed time to come to terms with it. Femi was back in the Museum where she was trying to finish off the packing of artifacts that now had to be sold. With a burdened sigh, Femi wiped her forehead with the back of her dusty hand and stepped away from the box she had just completed in filling. As she stepped away from it, she lifted her gaze to look about the large, ghostly hall that was now practically empty. She was reminiscing so deeply that she hadn't realised there was another person there with her, watching her calmly. Alex stood behind a tall board that once had photographs and information sheets pinned to it. He watched his sweetheart with a handsome little smirk on his face; she looked so cute when she was thinking about Egypt and all the wonders of the Museum.

"Oh, Hemiunu," Femi sighed to a tall, stone statue of Hemiunu sitting on his noble seat, "what am I going to do now?"

She placed her hands on her dainty hips while staring up at his sandy face. He was believed to be the architect of the Great Pyramid of Giza - a person Femi very much respected. She was going to miss working here with all her wonderful friends of history.

"Am I interrupting, or should I leave you and the statue alone for a bit longer?" Alex teased upon moving out from behind his hiding place.

Femi jumped in surprise and twirled round to face him. She blushed, tucking a curly lock behind her ear. Alex always had the power to make her do that. Since the day she met him.

"I-... I was just... saying goodbye." Femi explained in slight embarrassment.

Alex, with his hands coolly in his pockets, wandered towards her and joined her in looking up at the grand statue. It really was amazing. Something so old, from so long ago, still standing tall and proud.

"He looks a little... serious, to me." Alex joked.

Femi giggled softly, "Well, he was a very serious man. He had to be."

She turned to face him flirtatiously, taking a step back. Alex raised his eyebrows and followed her.

"Do you find that attractive in a guy?" He asked playfully.

Femi shrugged teasingly, "Perhaps."

She continued taking steps backwards and Alex remained walking towards her, slowly and mysteriously. The Museum was completely quiet, aside from their voices that danced about them like little fairies. The lights were dim as Femi didn't need the whole place lit up for her to see just one hall.

Alex was smiling his usual sexy smile, "So I need to start taking tips from a dead guy."

Femi turned smoothly on the heels of her feet to walk around a marble pillar, "There are lots of _living _serious men too. Take your father, for instance."

"Dad?" Alex blinked, his lip tweaking slightly, "are you kidding? I wouldn't call him serious at all... He's just... a faker."

"So that's definitely not where you get it from." Femi looked back at him over her shoulder, suggesting for him to continue following.

And he did, bringing back his smoldering smile that made Femi's stomach flutter and her cheeks warm. He stalked her past a couple more boxed that led them into a secluded, private area of the room, underneath the balcony of the second floor above them. Alex eased Femi back against a large, white vase. They were so close that their bodies were almost touching. Alex moved his hand up to touch the side of her face.

"Definitely not." He finally answered in a low, soft tone.

Femi blushed, looking down at his hand, "No... definitely."

Alex half chuckled under his breath as he leant in to kiss her lips, "... Definitely."

The two lovers let their lips press together and slowly allowed their longing arms to feel their way around each other. Leaning against her, Alex suddenly lifted her up by her waist and spun her round to sit her down on a crate behind him; Femi gave a light yelp and then laughed in between kisses. She slowly leant backwards to lie down on the crate, giving Alex permission to come with her, and just as his finger tips found the top button of her blouse, there was a sudden _smassshhhhh_ from the main hall where they had just been.

Startled, Alex jumped back like a bloodhound who had caught the scent of a fox. Femi sat up, also, and looked away from the direction in which the crash had come to send Alex a frightened look. He touched her shoulder at the same time as pulling his finger to his lips to say 'be quiet'. She nodded to agree but when he went to walk away she couldn't help but grap his elbow to hold him back.

"Stay here..." He whispered and brushed her chin reassuringly with his fingertips.

Another bang followed and so Femi reluctantly let him go and stood to watch him sneaking away. Within seconds she could no longer see him which only made her panic grow and feel totally vulnerable. Who was out there? Seconds turned into a minute. Then two. And then- a collaboration of violent voices and struggling groans, only to denote the process of a fight. Femi's feet lifted at once and she found herself recklessly dashing through the Museum to make sure Alex was alright! It could have been anyone, but Femi had a very good idea of who it was.

When she came into the opening, she was proved correct in her prediction.

Two men lay unconscious upon the floor where shards of stone and glass were scattered around them and Alex stood throwing and dodging punches from two others that seemed more than determined to beat him. Femi inhaled to shout to him, but before she could, a hand clasped around her throat and she felt herself pressed into the front of someone.

"Well, hello again sweetheart." The man spoke, his breath prickling her neck.

She recognised his voice at once - Carl, from yesterday. He had found them quickly, just as he said he would. At first Femi found herself feeling taken back and terrified, but seeing Alex take a spiteful blow to the stomach gave her the drive she needed to lift her foot and slam the heel of it down onto the surface of Carl's shoe. Carl cried out and released his grip around Femi from the distraction of his pain and she was able to free herself from his imprisonment and run towards Alex and the other 2 attackers. She didn't think twice before slamming her body into the side of one of them, thought it sent both of them tumbling to the ground together where she landed just beside him. The man wasn't overthrown by her sudden arrival and was already atop of her with his hands around her throat. _What a stupid, stupid thing to do_, Femi thought.

Her face was beginning to burn from not being able to breathe, but her silent plead for rescue was heard by Alex, who grabbed the man by the shoulders and threw him off of her so that he crashed onto the lap of Hemiunu himself. She gasped at once and felt the pleasure of oxygen returning to her lungs.

Alex took her hand and yanked her to her feet, "Come on!"

"You idiots!" Carl barked at his friend, "get up! Get _up_! Don't let them get away!"

Once again, Femi realised she was on the run with Alex, though this time their relationship was different. Why did this always happen? Was this the price Egyptologists had to pay for loving their history and discoveries? No... This was just the price for having two idiotic brothers.

Running towards the car outside, Alex jumped up onto the bonnet and skillfully slid over it to land solidly on the other side where the driver's door waited for him. Femi was already inside and had locked her door by the time Alex opened it.

"Quickly!" Carl barked menacingly from the entranceway of the Museum.

Femi gasped just as Alex turned the key and brought the car to live. Carl charged towards the car but, luckily for the two of them, it sped off before he could reach it. The doors were locked and they had zoomed off to a solid 30 miles per hour and increasing, but Femi still felt terrified that he could get to them.

"I am so **tired **of being chased all the time!" Alex barked irritably as he shifted anxiously in his chair.

Femi stopped looking behind her and leant back in her seat, "Where are we going?"

"To get Jonathan and your brother. They're in _biiiiiig _trouble." He grumbled, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

Femi exhaled stressfully, "... Not again."

She let her head lean back against the head-rest of her seat and closed her eyes with her brow scrunched up in dismay. Alex glanced at her as he drove through the night; the streets were rather empty at this time and the lamps floated over them creating gaps of darkness every second. He could tell that Femi was running through a million thoughts and feelings - feelings of the past catching up to her. On Alex's side, however, he was gradually becoming used to all of these mad scenarios. Seriously, someone could write a book about all of this!

"It'll be ok," Alex reassured her softly, "I promise."

Femi's eyes opened so she could gaze out of the window in a slight sulk, "How can you promise? We all know how this is going to pan out... On the run, again... I just want a normal life..."

Alex's expression changed from sympathy and care, to wonder and uncertainty. What exactly did she mean by that last comment? Was it double-barreled? 'A normal life', meaning she was growing tired of being with him? Meaning it was all getting too much for her? 'A normal life', meaning... she was growing tired of waiting for him to pop that question he was so reluctant to ask? _Oh come on, Alex, stop reading into things so much..._

The car journey was relatively silent, other than the odd comment here and there from Alex which were directions to Jonathan's apartment out loud. Femi sat quiet, thinking, trying to battle the fear inside of her that was growing stronger by the minute. It was, after all, a dangerous adventure that brought her and Alex together, but... would this one pull them further apart? Would someone get hurt again? Femi didn't want to even _dream _about nearly losing him again, or anyone else for that matter. All she really wanted to do was yell at Alex to carry on driving and never return to all of this mess with Carl and Quetzalcoatl... but that wasn't humane or moral. Of course she was going to stay, to work with everyone once again to sort everything out and make sure they would all be safe... They would, wouldn't they?

"Here we are," Alex spoke aloud to himself again, pulling the car to a halt, "the light's on - he's in. Thank god."

Femi left the car with Alex and the two of them jogged up to the grand entrance door. It was Femi's old apartment that her father had given her, but now that she had moved in with Alex into a more fitting apartment for them both, she signed it over to Carter. Jonathan practically lived there, too, as they had become the best of friends over the past year and he was always there either partying with him or passing out in the spare bedroom - with a female friend, or alone. Femi sent the desk clerk a pleasantly convincing smile as they passed him and, in turn, he sent them a nod of greeting. They dodged the elevator as there were a few people waiting in line and it was only on the 20th floor, which meant they would have been waiting too long to be 'playing it safe'.

When they _finally_ reached the 43rd floor, they were both exhausted to say the least. They had stopped a few times on their way up to catch their breaths or make sure their legs were still in tact. Femi had never, ever taken the stairs to her floor before. Now she realised why.

"Come on, just the next floor honey." Alex panted as he pulled her along behind him with his sweaty hand.

"Maybe... we should have... taken... the lift." She spoke through her gasping and heaving.

Alex chuckled, "You'd think after... all the adventures... we'd be fit for a few ghastly... steps."

"A few," Femi laughed, "not _43 floors_."

Alex chuckled along with her, as it was rather enjoyable to watch her little self struggling to keep up. Through the next set of doors on the 43rd level, Femi and Alex found it more than a relief to be able to walk along a straight, steady corridor that allowed their bodies to literally _hang_ as they strolled.

"Did you hear that?" Alex suddenly spoke and put his arm out to stop Femi from walking any further.

She blinked at him, "What?"

From the other side of Carter's door, Femi then noticed the sound of two men arguing as quietly as they could as if not wanting anyone to hear - except they could. Neither Alex or Femi could work out what they were exactly saying, but they definitely sounded troubled. Alex took charge, as always, and headed straight over to the door to slam his fist against it.

"Unc? Carter?" He called loudly through the door, "Open up."

Silence...

Femi arrived beside him, "We heard you in there! Now let us in! There's no time to be flim-flamming!"

At hearing this, Alex paused to look at her with an arched eyebrow, "_Flim-flamming_?"

Femi held back a blush and rolled her eyes to cover up her embarrassment. She banged on the door once more with the palm of her hand.

Jonathan could be heard clearing his throat before speaking in a very high, feminine voice, "Uhhh, room service madam. I cannot open the door without permission I'm afraid."

"Jonathan!" Femi shouted, "grow up! There are men on their way as we speak and"-

_CRASHHH_

Alex had decided to take the matter one step further by ramming his foot and leg straight into the door, causing it to break open with a blast. What Femi and Alex saw was something they didn't expect _at _all.

**Sneak Preview of Chapter 6:**

Everyone whipped round to look over at Jonathan as he spread his arms and fingers out to stare down at them with wide, horrified eyes. As Alex moved over to him, he saw that his skin was... sinking. His bones looked gaunt and freckles began to appear on his skin that only old people gained with age. Alex couldn't believe it.

"You're... you're growing old." Alex stated in confusion, studying Jonathan's now pale, bony face.

"Why?" Jonathan looked terribly distraught, "what's happening to me?"


	6. Filthy Rich

"Oh... my... lord..." Femi gasped as she walked in, eyes roaming about in astonishment.

Everything was absolutely covered in filth. Mud, rotten weeds, worms, dirt, perhaps even some excrement in there judging by the fowl smell. Jonathan and Carter stood in the middle of the room with the slime all up their legs, but the rest of their bodies were spottless. Femi felt her skin cover in goosepimples as she felt the goo brushing past her 3-inch heels and send a nauseous wave over her head.

"Uh," Carter mumbled, sinking lower into his vortex of panic, "we- we can explain... I... We... It-... It- it's all Jonathan's fault!"

He immediately stepped away from Jonathan and outstretched his arm to point the accusing finger like a lost child in the playground before a teacher. Femi and Alex didn't seem surprised in the slightest.

Alex glared at his stupid uncle, who still stood frozen, "What did you **do**?"

"I-i-it wasn't my fault!" Jonathan desperately tried to explain, "it was that sneaky, snitchy, double-crossing God of ours!"

"Ours?" Femi growled warningly.

"You didn't..." Alex shook his head in fret.

"Carter made me!"

"That's a rotten lie, Johnny!"

Jonathan threw his hands up dramatically, "Honestly, I wouldn't have even thought about it if it weren't for his conniving persuasive skills! I didn"-

"You made a wish, didn't you," Alex's fists clenched by his side, "even though dad told you specifically not to do anything stupid."

Femi's nose wrinkled at the putrid sludge around her feet, "What on earth did you wish for?"

"I wished..." Jonathan sighed heavily and let his head hang low in disappointment, "I wished to be filthy rich."

There was a short pause from Femi and Alex. Filthy Rich. Very good...

Alex had to hold back his smile of amusement, "Filthy rich?"

"Well..." Femi was also struggling to hide how much she was enjoying this comical scene, "he obviously doesn't like you very much, after all."

"I tried calling him out! I tried! But he won't come!" Jonathan looked almost heartbroken, "that deceitful little devil! I asked for money, not dirt!"

"Well, gramatically... he kind uh' gave you what you asked for if ya' think about it..." Alex teased him.

"Ha - ha," Jonathan nodded angrily, "go on. Laugh. Tell me how stupid I am. Get it over with."

"Uh - I don't think now's the right time to be laughing..." Carter then spoke up in a tone of concern, bringing everyone to reality.

He was staring behind them all, straight at the doorway, which Femi soon saw was blocked by Carl and four of his bruised friends. They didn't look very happy.

"Thought you'd escape us, did ya?" Carl sneered through his teeth, "you were fast, but not fast enough."

"Oh, come on!" Alex shouted in exasperation; he was so tired of being chased by the 'bad guys', "it's too late! The ring's on his finger! You can't remove it now until all the wishes are used up."

Carl shook his head and revealed the dagger hidden in a holder beneath his jacket, "Not if I can help it. My father was a surgeon. I was never wise enough to follow his path, but I learnt a trick or two."

"Oh, god, no! No!" Jonathan leapt behind Femi for protection, "you're mad!"

"I'm passionate," Carl grinned cockily, revealing his pearly white teeth like sharp blades, "and I always get what I want."

"Not this time buddy," Alex spread his legs and put his fists up, "I'm not scared of your little toys. You'll have to go through me first."

"Are you sure?" Carl appeared to be enjoying this way too much.

Femi jumped in to try and keep the peace, "Please! Stop this! Surely there is some way we can come to an arrangement! Surely none of us really want to go through all this fighting?"

"Femi..." Alex warned her.

"No," Femi shook her head anxiously, "think about it. What's the point? The ring isn't going to grant you your wishes now, anyway, even if you did cut off Jonathan's finger."

Jonathan scowled, "Thanks, Femi..."

"... You may have a point, there..." Carl looked as though he was working out a mathematical equation in his head.

"Yes, I do," Femi nodded, becoming hopeful, "why don't... Why don't we make a deal. You leave Jonathan's finger, and... and... whatever wish he grants will be in your benefit."

"What?" Jonathan and Carter both blurted out.

Carl narrowed his eyes in suspicion while looking back and forth from the two theives. His tanned face seemed darker as he cleverly thought everything through. He wasn't stupid, that was for sure - even if he did allow Jonathan and Carter to trick him. His age was no more than 25 probably, and his build was quite strong and muscly like Alex, though he was just a bit shorter. He wore a beige explorer's hat that was rather worn out from all the travelling it had done. All in all, Carl looked like a man who knew his stuff.

Femi took a glance at Alex before stepping past him and towards Carl. Alex, obviously, didn't like this one bit and went to move after her.

"Please," Femi spoke graciously and sweetly, "we don't need to fight. No one needs to get hurt. I'm sure you aren't as impulsive as you look Mr... Mr"-

"Deveneaux." He finished for her.

"Mr Deveneaux." Femi nodded warmly, smiling a little too genuinely for Alex's liking, even if it was a pretend.

Alex immediately stepped in between them before Carl's eyes could look at Femi in that way any longer. It wasn't obvious to Femi at all, but Alex's male intuition told him that Carl's eyes were looking at her too much.

"So back the hell off already." Alex snapped at Carl, pushing Femi slightly behind him.

Carl smirked, "Don't worry, O'Connell. I'm not gonna' steal your girl."

Femi blushed uncomfortably while Alex held back a powerful urge to smack him straight in the nose. But the peace was hanging on the line so finely that he knew it would be stupid to ruin it all now. Femi held his arm tight - reminding him to keep his calm.

"Ah! Ah!" Jonathan started to whimper and gasp in terror, "bloody nora! Look at me! Look!"

Everyone whipped round to look over at Jonathan as he spread his arms and fingers out to stare down at them with wide, horrified eyes. As Alex moved over to him, he saw that his skin was... sinking. His bones looked gaunt and freckles began to appear on his skin that only old people gained with age. Alex couldn't believe it.

"You're... you're growing old." Alex stated in confusion, studying Jonathan's now pale, bony face.

"Why?" Jonathan looked terribly distraught, "what's happening to me?"

Carl started laughing; he knew something none of them did. Femi turned to Carl as if to ask him to tell them what exactly was so funny.

"You wannabes really have no idea, do ya?" He shook his head, folding his arms, "maybe this'll teach you for stealing from someone else."

"Please," Femi sounded frightened, "what's happening to him?"

"It's the curse of the ring," Carl slowly began walking towards Jonathan, "each wish drains more essence out of you. That's what Quetzalcoatl forgot to tell you, I bet. When all four wishes are granted, the owner of the ring will completely wear away and give Quetzalcoatl the life he needs to escape from his prison."

"What?" Femi blinked rapidly as she tried to digest all of the new information, "but- but he told us that he was sent into that ring because his people feared they would lose him after war was declared on their Empire."

"And you believed him." Carl nodded dryly, quite arrogantly at that.

"What else were we to think? We knew nothin' about this." Alex bit back at him while trying to stop Jonathan from waving his arms around like a mad man.

"He tricked you. He's a cunning God. And he clearly sensed that your friend Jonathan here was the weakest and most vulnerable soul that he could captivate. And he did." Carl explained with no care in his voice whatosever.

Carter held his hands out helplessly, "So what do we do?"

"There's nothing you can do." Carl shrugged and flicked the rim of his hat.

"No..." Femi looked over at Jonathan, tears threatening to spill, "there has to be. We can't just let him keep wishing until he rots away!"

"Why d'you think we were trying so hard to get it back? We're not the bad guys, here." Carl announced, suddenly turning everything round into a different perspective for Femi and the others.

Well, not for Alex. He still refused to un-hate him.

Femi ran over to Jonathan and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning up to embrace him tight. She couldn't believe it. Not poor, stupid Jonathan. He had his moments and constant ways of getting everyone into a muddle... but he didn't deserve this. No one did!

"Oh, Jonathan..." She sighed in a weepish manner.

It was a sympathetic, desperate sigh, as if she was pleading to the Lord that someone could rid him of his terrible curse right away. Jonathan eventually stopped struggling and hugged her loosely back; he was frowning deeply.

"I-it's alright... Don't cry, old jean... I'll be alright." He tried to reassure her, though his eyes said differently to his nephew Alex.

"How did you know about it?" Alex carefully asked the unstrustworthy Carl.

"Our boss is a very important investor in the business of collecting and trading. Millions worth. Someone stole this ring from him a couple of months ago and he hired us to return it to him; we've been tracking it down since. We overheard some gamblers at a poker bar talking about someone they knew who had a pretty high bet. A ring. Worth a heck of a lot. So we followed further into it and found out where he'd be playing next. We saw your two friends there," He paused to nod towards Jonathan and Carter, "gambling. Quite sneaky aren't they. Figured we could use them to get it back to us without drawing any attention to it. Last thing we'd want is people figuring out its actual worth and swarming around it like flies on dog shit."

Femi sniffled and looked back at him in distaste and anger. Such fowl language, and such unempathy towards what was happening to their dear friend. Then again, he was all about business. Femi noted that he spoke far too well and clear for any other "common" slimeball.

"But," Carl sighed again, feeling the memory of his anger and impatience creep up on him, "they also decided to fast-move us. We were hoping to retrieve it before... well, this happened. Now that Queztalcoatl has woken up and the curse has been put in place... there's nothing we can do."

"What happens when Queztacoatl is free?" Alex dared to ask the fatal question.

Carl took a moment to create more suspense without realising, "... Evolution will be reversed."

"Reversed?" Femi sniffed, wiping some tears away.

"If you know anything about Queztacoatl, you'll know he was originally in the form of an ancient flying reptile"-

"Pterodactyl." Alex interrupting him.

Carl nodded, scratching his head, "Dragons, the loch-ness, Godzilla... They all stem from the same streotype of extinct, myth or legend. What we don't realise is that they were all more than just animals. They were Gods."

"Now this I don't believe." Alex snorted, shaking his head, and looking around at the others to expect to see them agreeing.

"Think about it," Carl continued wisely, "there have been so many theories about what the Government covers up for our 'own good', if that's what you want to call it. Stories are written and told as tales - make believe. But what if that was just a fabrication?"

"Are you telling us the truth?" Femi asked, almost hoping he was lying.

"Why would I lie?" Carl shrugged again to show his honesty, "you've seen too much for us to hide any of it now."

"Oh my..." Femi felt herself grow dizzy and found herself suddenly falling down to rest on the arm of the filthy sofa-arm.

Alex was instantly by her side to check that she was ok. Holding her face, he stared into her eyes to make sure she wasn't losing consciousness.

"I'm fine," Femi shook her tired head, flapping her hand, "really... I just-... One thing at a time, please."

"It's a lot to take in." Carl reasonably supported her struggle.

Alex sniggered, "We've seen a lot of crazy stuff, don't worry."

"Oh?" Carl sounded curious.

"Where do we start!" Carl threw his hands up at a loss, "it seems like we're the one bloody family in this city that can't just live reality as it is."

"I assure you - the normal lives aren't reality at all. You've seen the world for what it really is, just like us." Carl philosophically retorted, in his own thoughts.

"But why? Why grant the wishes? It doesn't add up." Femi spoke with difficulty as all the information rattled her mind.

"How else would the Totonacs make sure their world would return as it once was? Greed is a weakness. The wishes are a meer trick - a bribe, if you will - at completing the stages that lead to Quezalcoatl's freedom. With each greedy wish the holder makes, the stronger he becomes. And eventually, before the wisher even knows what they have done, time will be broken as we know it and all of society will erupt with an ancient age. Ancient creatures will walk the earth. Gods will uncover themselves from their darknesses. Extinct plants and wildlife, landscapes and climate will pour back into this world... and the Totonacs will rule once again." Carl explained in deep consternation.

"I... I had no idea..." Jonathan gulped, "blimey, what have I done chaps?"

"We cannot allow that to happen." Femi panted, holding onto Alex's shoulder.

Carl shrugged indifferently, "It looks as though there isn't anything we can do, now..."

"There must be!" Alex snarled, "I can't just sit here and accept that. Who's your boss? Does he know more about this?"

Carl paused for a moment to exchange looks with his partners, as if debating whether or not to tell them the truth. They all waited for Carl to respond, hoping and praying...

With a nod, Carl rubbed the back of his head and huffed, "You should come with us."

Femi and Alex frowned at each other, despite the positive news. Something told them it was going to be a bumpy road from there on.

**Author's Notes:** _Hey everybody-peeps! Sorry it's taken so long for me to update this story, but I wanted to express my gratitude towards all of you lovely readers of mine who have been so loyal to this story for the past two years. I'm kind of disappointed in myself that this story has recieved more praise and attention than any of my original stories on ... but hey! Praise is still praise, and us writers love it! Review all you can, my pets, as it will just help edge me in the right direction to quench the thirsts of your imaginations._

_Ciao, darlings. Until next time... xxx_

_~Hyaline._


	7. Agree to Disagree

**_Author's Notes: _**_chillinwithRAYintheuk, your review really made me giggle! I'm off sick from Uni and when I read it, it inspired me to add another update. Sorry it takes me so long - life is hectic. But thanks!_

_-0-_

The house at which they arrived was extremely modern with very impressive suave architecture. The house was built up of four boxes at different angles and the roof tops were slanted in different directions with jagged silver edges. The walls of the house were made entirely of glass so that the furniture and lights could be seen through their shimmering forms, though blinds were pulled across most of them on this night. The lead up to the house was on flat concrete, which led them up some steps and onto the large patio balcony of the house, on higher land.

"Blimey..." Jonathan gasped, admiring the beautiful estate, "this must've cost a few..."

Carter just nodded in agreement, sharing Jonathan's facial expression of awe. Femi admitted, it was a nice place to live, but she preferred more privacy and warm cottage-like homeliness. She didn't want her home to look like an art display. Carl led them to the front door, which was made of a silver iron, and buzzed the speakerphone button on the side of it. After a few seconds passed, someone spoke.

"Who is it?" A man snapped.

"Me. I've got people to see the boss." Carl answered tiredly.

"He's downstairs." Mysteriously, this was all the man said back to Carl.

There was a short buzzing sound, followed by a click, from which the door automatically started to open out towards them all without any helping hand. Carl nodded back to them all as to gesture for them to follow him into the exquisite house. The four of them moved into the house and let Carl lead them through the hall and down a flight of stairs which took them into an underground section of the beautiful house. The floor was made of white stone and the walls were a smooth marble grey. At the end of the short, dimly-lit hall was another door at which Carl stopped only briefly to slide an activation card through a slot positioned in the left corner. There was a short beeping of permission granted before the door unlocked and Carl opened it, stepping into the secured room. Alex and the others braced themselves for whatever it was they were about to find.

Inside, the room was made of more artsy marble and glass and was filled with statues and paintings that were obviously of great financial value from the way they were set out on stone stands like a museum. Femi was, at first, thrilled by the treasures and was more focussed on gawking at them than the man that stood at the far end of the room with a stunning snow leopard sitting obediently by his side. In his hands he held a thick steak at which the beautiful tiger was hungrily watching while licking its lips. When Femi was stopped by the halt in the group, she looked up ahead to finally see the man and his tiger and let out a shocked gasp and jumped back faintly. She grabbed Alex's hand at once.

"Welcome to my humble home," The man spoke without smiling, "I hope you like it."

"Like it?" Jonathan snorted, "it's a bloody bank!"

The man didn't even blink at hearing Jonathan's tacky comment. He was wearing a plum, silk robe with dark trousers underneath and on his feet he wore a pair of black slippers. His greying hair was quite long but pulled back into a ponytail to keep off of his face and a simple set of spectacles sat on the bridge of his nose to emphasise his green eyes. He was silent and still but had an air of dominance about him.

"Are these the ones?" He asked dryly, looking to Carl.

Carl nodded and slapped his hands into the backs of Carter and Jonathan so that they stumbled forwards towards the tiger. At their sudden movement, the tiger growled and stood up onto all fours warningly, making the two men gulp air and steady themselves instantly. The tiger's owner whistled to catch its attention and then threw the steak to the floor - the tiger snatched it up in its mouth before casually strolling to the corner of the room where a luxurious bed (a giant dog bed) awaited it.

"What an interested pet," Carter nervously tried to flatter the man, "fan of the cat family are you?"

"Yes," He nodded calmly, "I had two, but Shiba ate my lawyer. It did not go down too well."

Femi and Alex remained as calm as possible while Jonathan and Carter just laughed nervously to brush it off as if it was a joke. But ones they realised that the man was not even smiling, they froze in horror.

"I am Armand. I am a man of great patience, you must know, "He brushed his freakishly long fingernails against his silk robe, "but I have none left to spare on the two of you. I know what you have taken from me - and I honestly believe that you know you will be returning it to me shortly."

Jonathan burst out into another fit of childishly sheepish chuckles and looked around at everyone as if asking for some sort of help. Armand evidently wasn't aware that Jonathan was actually wearing the ring, already; he hid his hand behind his back. However, Carl was quick to notice his sneaky cowering and roughly grabbed his wrist and yanked him over to Armand without hesitation.

"Hey!" Alex barked and took a step forwards.

Armand looked at Alex as if only just noticing him, "And who are you?"

"I'm the guy you don't want to piss off." Alex cockily replied.

"Alex..." Femi rolled her eyes mentally.

At hearing her voice, Armand absorbed Femi's appearance and raised his eyebrows with a type of interest that made Alex blink in offense. Was he actually checking her out, right in front of him? Protectively, Alex clicked his fingers to make Armand look at him and he pointed back and forth from his eyes and Armand's' with his two main fingers.

Alex sarcastically ordered, "Eyes on me, buddy."

Femi looked to the floor in an awkward embarrassment. Armand almost smiled.

"Look," Jonathan grunted as he struggled in Carls' grasp, "we didn't steal - we just - we used our talents without knowing it!"

Armand glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, "Your idiocy amuses me... Give me the ring."

Armand held his flat palm out to wait for Carl to retrieve the ring from Jonathan and place it in his hand... but it never happened. Impatiently, Armand closed his eyes with a huff and clicked his fingers.

"Uh, Armand, Sir..." Carl cleared his throat, "that's what we've come to tell ya'..."

Armand opened his eyes and stomped his foot, "Give me the ring, you baffoon!"

Carl scowled angrily at hearing this insult, "He's _wearing _it."

Armand's eyes grew as he slowly turned to face Carl as if trying to confirm what he had just heard. Nobody spoke. They just watched Armand digesting this piece of information without knowing what to expect. Would he scream, shout, hit someone? Blow up?

"LUCIFER!" He suddenly hollered, his shoulders tense, and hands shaking furiously.

The tiger on the opposite side of the room burst into the scene and suddenly leapt across the air to attack one of Carls' friends who had his back turned on the feline. Femi screamed out as the man was tackled to the floor to be mauled at by the ferocious beast. Alex jumped away in a mad rush of panic and dragged her across to the other side of the room, away from the bloodshed; everyone other than Armand followed him. Femi covered her ears and pressed her face into Alex's shoulder to stop herself from hearing or seeing any of the attack taking place. It didn't last very long.

Carter was breathing heavily with wide eyes, "Was that necessary?"

Carl, who stood alongside them all, was just wary of the situation but didn't seem as threatened. He watched the tiger feasting with no expression in his eyes, as if he had seen it too many times before. He was drawn from his calm studies when his boss' voice sliced into the air.

"Carl," He barked, attempting to catch his breath, "do you have any idea what this now means?"

"Y-y-y-y-y-you just killed him!" Carter stuttered, pointing in fear at the bloody body lying on the floor, "I can see his kidneys!"

Femi released a muffled groan of disgust from against Alex's chest, praying for Carter to be quiet; Alex stroked her back comfortingly. He, like Carl, wasn't as disturbed as the others but he was most definitely surprised that Armand would let something like this happen so casually.

"I cannot believe this," Armand pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers, "everything I worked for..."

"You?" Alex snickered, finally able to look away from the tiger as he chewed on some bloody shirt, "what about my uncle? What about his life?"

"The only way to remove that ring without bringing chaos down is to use up all the wishes." Armand clenched his fists in front of his face.

"But we can't do that," Alex glared at the insane man, "can we."

Armand sighed hopelessly, "Obviously not."

"I suggested amputation..." Carl spoke carefully in a cheeky tone.

"You fool!" Armand threw his hands up in the air, "am I working with _complete _morons? You must not remove the ring! If you cut off the connection between the God and its instrument, it could be worse than making the wishes altogether!"

"How do you know?" Alex gritted his teeth in frustration.

Femi still clung to the front of him, though her hands were now lowered by her shoulders; Carl's friend hid behind a statue in fear that he would be Armand's next means of anger ventilation.

"I was exploring out in Mexico when I came across a tribe who welcomed me. They told me of the story of this ring and, ever since, I had searched for it. It has taken three years for me to actually set my eyes upon it... and it is on another's hand. The whole purpose for finding that ring was to prevent this from ever happening!" Armand then relaxed and made an innocent face, "And to sell it, of course, for the greater good."

At hearing all of this, Femi slowly dared herself to turn her head against Alex's chest so that she could look at Armand as he spoke. His words were reeling her in.

"The natives aren't my biggest fans, let us say," Armand waved his hand carelessly, "but people who live in the past can never understand us modern businessmen. History is valuable."

"You mean, they worshipped the ring?" Femi meekly asked from where she stood stiffly, "and you took it against their permission?"

Armand looked at Femi and his face tensed up. It was the truth in her question that had caught him off-guard - truth that he could not deny.

"My dear," Armand shook his head proudly, "they had no idea of its importance in this world. I had to make sure it was never found by anyone else..."

"So now, because of you, our friend's life is at risk?" Femi felt her protective side firing up.

Just then, there was a disturbing _crack _from the body of Carl's dead friend as the tiger had obviously broken a bone somewhere and Femi flinched in absolute discomfort and grabbed onto Alex's shirt once again. Armand noticed this and barked the tigers name so that it cowered away into its corner again - but not without dragging a leg with him.

"I apologise for the bloodshed," Armand charmingly spoke, "I would never usually let such things take place in the presence of a fine woman, but my anger is growing short these days..."

Femi turned her head again to send Armand a look of rejection; she didn't accept his apology at all and her eyes told him just how disgraceful she thought he was. Armand pretended to be wounded by placing a hand on his heart and pouting. Pig.

Alex returned the conversation to the issue at hand, "What is this tribe? Where are they?"

"And why should I tell you?" Armand looked Alex up and down in a belittling manner.

"Because," Alex's brow creased menacingly, "they're probably the only people left that can help my uncle."

"Perhaps," Armand gave a selfish shrug, "but that will not get me my ring back, will it."

"Forget your stupid ring!" Carter bravely snapped from his position against the wall, "this is much bigger now!"

"Too right!" Jonathan nodded beside him, "my life!"

"And the _world_," Femi tensely corrected him, "this has gotten completely out of control, and all because of money."

Armand actually appeared upset this time, "Do not mistake me, my beauty... Money is just a bonus for being the protector of such a powerful artefact. I wanted nothing more than to keep everyone from harm. But if someone such as myself were capable of finding the ring, imagine how easily an army or a scientist could. And what would_ they _use it for?"

Femi thought he held sense in his words, though she still didn't trust him or hold any sympathy for him in the slightest. He had just gladly set his tiger upon a man and allowed it to feast on him!

"Armand," Carl decided to step in and reason with his boss, "perhaps I could speak with you, in private?"

Everyone waited apprehensively for Armand to answer while he looked to Carl with a ticking brain. Femi looked up to Alex in concern and he gave her a reassuring squeeze around her waist. What was going to happen?

"If you wish." Armand nodded, now having returned to his calm stature.

Carl looked to Femi and Alex, basically to signal for them to make their leave. They did, quickly, with Jonathan, Carter and the other employee of Armand rushing after them. When they made it safely out of the room and back into the hall, everyone released loud sighs and groans as if they had held their breaths for so long.

"Is he always that insane?" Jonathan asked Armand's employee in a shocked tone.

The man just nodded in silent terror... Time passed seemingly slowly, despite how quick it actually happened. Everyone was so nervous that time probably stood still. The group just stood, leaning against the walls, gazing into space with their heads clouded in dismay. When they heard the door open, everyone jumped at once; Carl was smiling craftily.

"Well?" Alex impatiently asked with a sarcastic shrug.

Carl looked back at him with an expression of arrogant authority. Femi didn't like the toying look in those eyes of his; he was about to deliver news that no one would particularly be enthused by.

"We're going to Mexico."


	8. Russian Roulette

**Author's Notes**: _I know, I know... you all want to throttle hammers at me! I'm SOOOOORRRRYYYYY! University has been so hectic lately, I've had dozens of essays and assignments to work on, plus actually having a life and juggling work - doesn't leave me much time for ... But anyhow, here it is! A nice, long chapter for you all to sink your eyes into. I hope you enjoy and it was worth the wait :)_

_-0-_

The group obediently followed Carl back up the basement's concrete steps, tip-tapping and their breaths being the only sounds. No one particularly had anything to say, or more reasonably, they weren't in the appropriate frame of mind to speak. They were all suffering from mild shock, still, even after the plentiful strange and fantastical things they had seen over the past year; tey were still vulnerable to the element of surprise. Yesterday, they were working at an artefacts fait, and now...? Off to Mexico on another insane journey to save Jonathan from death and the world from peril.

Finally, Alex found the force to speak, "How're we getting there?"

"Fly, of course." Carl answered, as if Alex was a moron.

Alex bit back the urge to smack him and retreated back to Femi's side with an impatient little grunt. Femi took no notice but continued to frown at the floor as she thought over poor Jonathan's situation. The group arrived in the upstairs corridor and Carl continued to make towards the front of the house - but a sound struck him solid and he paused in his track; Femi knocked into the back of him and gasped tenderly, half embarrassed and annoyed. Alex glared, for the childish purpose that Femi had even touched Carl by a mere accident.

"Seen a ghost, bud?" Alex sarcastically sneered, "we ain't got time to waste, you kn"-

Carl held his hand up, flat, to silence Alex at once. He was staring at the end of the hallway with a tight brow and slitted eyes of deep concentration; he was listening for something.

"Go..." Carl's eyes widened, "quick, back downstairs"-

"What?" Femi huffed, "why?"

Carl whipped round to face them all and begun attempting to usher them backwards when the explanation for his behaviour arrived around the corner of the hallway; guns, held by men in some sort of army uniform. An orchestra of fear blasted all around them in the sound of gun's being cocked and men beginning to shout orders. Alex, Femi, Carter and Jonathan suddenly realised the severity of Carls' demands and started running down the stairs, trying not to trip as they went. Gun shots sent bullets popping and cracking against the marble walls and dusty debris crumbled onto the floor as their feet galloped by.

"Turn left!" Carl barked ahead to them all.

Alex skidded in the direction he had heard and boldly led his friends down another long, narrow hallway which transformed from marble into aged concrete slabs. It was like something from the Medieval times. No one took the time to enquire of where they were going or the men chasing them; they ran as fast as they could. Alex soon arrived at a set of concrete steps and trotted down them with flaming torches upon the walls guiding his way. The staircase winded in a spiral shape, on and on it seemed to go, shadows dancing past them all and the sound of their feet deafening out all else. Everything appeared to be unfolding in their favour, until they reached the second level of ground and were faced with a maze of stone.

"Which way?" Alex panted, staring at the five different entrances in awe.

Carl shuffled through them and headed for the middle entrance, the most obvious one, "Stay close to me. Do _not _get lost cuz' I won't be able to come back for you."

Men's vicious voices and thudding feet started to echo through the spiralling stairway and nudged the group to nod anxiously and kick off after him. Carl, followed by Alex, Jonathan, Femi and Carter weaved in and out of the turnings, streaming through the mysterious guidance of stone with only the light of a torch held by Carl giving them a hint of sight. Femi clutched onto Jonathan's belt while her other hand hung from her brothers' sweaty grip.

"Keep up!" Carl's voice barked out.

Femi whipped her head back with a gasp at hearing sharp, startling bullets cracking into brick at the start of the maze. They were catching up on them, fast. The group remained inside the sickening, distorting maze of darkness for a few more minutes it seemed, until finally Carl brought them to the end. They stood at the bank of a river, very much like a sewer bed, although the smell was fresh and salty rather than putrid. They were underground and the river's current was strong, leading out from their left and into another tunnel on their right, and a boat was tied to a metal stump in the ground to keep it docked.

"This is an old sewage plant?" Alex looked around, intrigued.

"Armand uses it as an escape route. It's no secret to him, so hurry up." Carl threw the rope into the boat.

Jonathan immediately climbed into the boat and Alex, hopping in after him, turned to hold a supportive hand out to Femi. Carl had finished unravelling the tie and climbed into the front of the small vessel to prepare for cast off with the ore sitting across the bow. Femi's second foot had just landed in the boat when Alex roughly yanked her down into his protection and Carl jumped in a sudden fright.

"No!" Femi out-cried, at seeing the commotion.

The five men who had been chasing them were now standing at the stone bank of the stream and while four of them aimed their rifles threateningly in their direction, the fifth was holding Carter captive with a pistol against his chin. Carter stood rigid and gulped, his eyes wide and pleading for help.

"Carter!" Femi yelled fearfully, her heart wrenching.

She made to stand up but Alex's grip was far too strong and left her struggling furiously for the freedom to rescue her poor brother. They had snuck up so fast on them all, no one had expected it.

"It's over, Carl," The man restraining Carter growled, "get out and surrender."

Carl stared back at the man with no sign of fear in his eyes, but more of speculation, in his deep search for a plan. The passengers of the boat bobbed silently on the black water as it pulled them further out into the current.

"We have it now," The man chuckled proudly, "just give in already."

At hearing this, Jonathan clenched his hand tight beside his tense knee to hide the ring on his finger; they had intended on capturing _him_, not poor Carl. Femi inhaled a sharp gasp but Alex clasped his hand over her mouth before she had the chance to reveal the truth of the captives' mistake; Femi struggled, squealed and kicked but Alex remained firm. He didn't want to do this but he knew it was necessary in order for them to escape...

"Go, Femi," Carter forced a fake, goofy smile, "I'm ok!"

"Carl..." The man holding him growled impatiently, "don't be a fool... It's not too late to show your alleigance."

"I already am." Carl sighed, both in disappointment and dread, for knowing that his decision would bring great difficulty in the future.

Carl dipped his ore into the water one last time and gave another shove off of the shallow ground, causing the boat to steer round and drift off into the shelter of the tunnel. Jonathan frowned guiltily back at his friend before disappearing into the shadows. Femi continued to struggle despite her awareness of their exit. That was her brother. She couldn't just let him go like this!

"What was that all about?" Alex growled over the shoulder of a writhing Femi.

"I've betrayed him," Carl confessed, staring up ahead at the tunnel, "I'm wanted just as much as you are, now. I can't go back."

Alex narrowed his eyes, suddenly understanding, "You weren't taking us to Mexico, were you."

Carl simply shook his head, casting shadows across his face as the flaming torches dimly flickered in the chilly draft.

"Why?" Was all Alex asked.

Carl finally looked back at Alex, then Femi, and eventually the ring on Jonathan's finger. Some kind of soft emotion momentarily shimmered in his dark eyes but Alex dismissed it as fear for his own sake.

"I just don't agree with Armand," Carl looked at Femi, who was now crying silently in Alex's arms, "he knows the power of that ring, yet he still doesn't care. What kind of person wants to see the world end? That's bloody sick. I like living, thanks."

Alex just sneered and looked down at the top of Femi's head; he knew it. All Carl cared about was his own life. This wasn't really about the world, but himself. If the world was going to end and he could buy a first-class ticket to an elternate Earth, he wouldn't be so brave against Armand and his men.

"So where are we going now?" Jonathan meekly inquired from his guilty silence.

"Just to get a few things, then I'll point you in the right direction." Carl explained tonelessly, sailing the boat skillfully with his little ore.

Alex grunted and reached out to grab the ore, "Let me drive"-

Carl snatched away, entertaining the childish competition, "Ah-ah. My boat. My rules."

"Gimme' the ore," Alex growled, "you've nearly gotten us killed already."

"Actually, I think I saved your life," Carl looked upwards in sarcasm, "yes, I think I did..."

Alex swiped his angsty hand out again, "Cut the crap!"

"Stop!" Femi suddenly interrupted them, "you baffoons care about nothing more than to dispute over a plank of wood, while my brother has been left for death?"

Femi slammed her hands into Alex's chest to both help herself sit up, away from him, while also projecting her fury onto him. Both Carl and Alex blinked at her in surprise.

"How could you?" Femi frowned passionately at Alex

Alex slowly sighed, once again being defeated by the angelic sadness on Femi's face. She always managed to tame him, no matter how angry he was. Just seeing the sparkles in those puppy-dog eyes made him weaker than ever.

Carl rubbed the back of his head, "It was for the best"-

"I wasn't talking to _you,_" Femi snapped boldly at him, keeping her eyes on Alex, "I know. You thought it was a good idea, seeing as we still had Jonathan and the ring."

"We had a chance to get away. If we stopped to fight for Carter, we might's'well just handed the ring over to 'em." Alex explained, bobbing from the small waves beneath the boat.

"And if it was me back there?" Femi raised her eyebrows like a strict teacher, "would you still be saying that?"

"That's different"-

"How?" Femi threw her hands up in frustration, "you say it is, but how? Carter means as much to me as I do to you. But you could't fight for him, or let me try. Now... now, I don't know what they might do to him. He doesn't know anything... He never does. He's just silly, stupid, poor little Carter. He may be my elder brother, but I have **always** taken care of him. Mother always told me to take care of him. The vacuous baffoon..."

Femi lowered her face to sigh miserably at the boat floor. Silence fell over the small crew as they all pondered over the safety of Carter. Alex didn't want to feel guilty, as he knew he had acted rightly... but Femi was right. If she had been captured, there was nothing that could convince him not to fight for her. Minutes passed with only the lapping of the water and the scraping of the wooden ore against the tunnel bed to keep the group company. Yellow, dim light appeared up ahead, coming from a hole 10 foo above them in the ceiling. The sounds of cars and wind whispered down to them.

"Use the ladder. I'll be right behind you." Carl advised, as he moored the little boat to the concrete shore.

Everyone climbed out, one by one. Alex paused to offer Femi a helpful hand onto the ground but she ignored it with a stubborn click of her tongue, to inform Alex that she had entered a long phase of sulking which would require great amounts of grovelling. Wonderful. Alex pushed this aside, however, and approached the aged, rusted ladder to begin climbing skywards to the exit hole; Jonathan followed, then Femi, by which this point Carl had finished docking the boat and was coming up behind her. He couldn't help but smirk childishly to himself upon looking up and seeing Femi's pleasant thighs brushing together, but being a gentleman deep down he knew it was becoming to only look and not the surface, the cold autumn night caressed Alex's hot, sweaty face and soothed his temperature and irritation as he climbed up onto his feet to look around. They were at the docks, with water stretching out behind them and London bridge posing not so far in the distance. Jonathan managed to climb out safely as knocking into Alex and nearly tripping over himself was just a typical and expected habit of his; Femi refused to accept Alex when he, once again, tried to help her out.

"My car is the white one - by the lampost." Carl's voice echoed out from the belly of the underground.

Femi brushed her hair back out of her face and attempted to tidy herself up before looking over and spotting the beautiful Mercedez gleaming under the artificial light of the lampost. Carl brushed himself down and immediately jogged over to his car, unlocking it, and opening the drivers' seat. None of the others had moved from the drain and made him snicker cockily.

Caarl sent Femi a teasing gleam with his eyes, "If I was gonna' hurt you, I'd've done it by now."

Femi, sensing the flirtatiousness in his comment, shrugged her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself to act as though it was the wind which had given her such a strange chill.

"I doubt that." Alex proudly snipped back, taking the first step.

Femi and Jonathan exchange looks, though Femi's turned into one of anger as opposed to Jonathans' worry. She trotted off after Alex and Jonathan kicked off with her for fear of being left alone in the middle of all this madness. Alex sat in the front with Carl, to keep an eye on him, and Femi and Jonathan strapped themselves into the comfortable leather seats of the back.

"Come to keep me company eh?" Carl teased Alex, clipping in his seatbelt.

Alex snickered out the window, "Don't flatter yourself."

As soon as the engine purred out to her, Femi fell into a trance. Her eyes slowly lowered and her head rested against the cool glass; she could sense the glow of street lights stroking across her eyelids. The vibrations of the vehicle were so soothing to her and helped her fall into herself for a moment. She could see her mother and Carter standing there, smiling, as always, sending her waves of strength, purity and love. These past few months had been so perfect, but now? Another crazy, ridiculous ... whatever-you-can-call it - journey? Adventure? Quest? Weren't there people in the world who got paid to deal with issues like this?When Femi opened her eyes, the car had come to a halt and people were strutting and strolling past the window along the street. She then noticed the building behind them - a dark exterior, with no windows at all. The name of the business was 'The Deep'. A type of club, judging by the bouncers and the huge double doors they were guarding. No one was going in... It was pretty exclusive.

"Come on, then." Carl sighed, removing his belt.

"We're going in there?" Jonathan swallowed down his childish fears, "really?"

"It's not that bad." Carl snickered before getting getting out.

Femi rubbed her temples and blinked a few times to wake herself properly. The journey had gone by so fast, what had she been thinking about for so long? Alex unclipped his seatbelt to grant himself more room to turn and face Femi and his uncle.

"Will you be ok?" He asked them both.

Femi sighed irritably and stretched somewhat, "Oh, for heaven's sake, Alex..."

She opened the car door and pulled herself out with such sophistication that no one would have guessed what she had been through so far. Alex grumbled something under his breath which sounded a little like 'stubborn' and 'bratty' to Jonathan as he aggressively swung his door open and scrambled out after her.

"Right then," Jonathan tucked his ringed finger away into his pocket, "here we go."

Jonathan joined the others just as they had reached the bouncers, where Carl worked his magic and gained them entry into the mysterious building; Femi avoided eye contact with the daunting brutes, although she wasn't the only one who felt their eyes watching her as she felt Alex's hand press against her back protectively. They immediately began walking down a set of marble steps, with blue lighting either side of the hall.

"What're we doin' here?" Alex asked warily, keeping a close watch on Carl.

"Picking up a map. Without it, you won't find the tribe." Carl explained as he waltzed the steps.

Femi's foot foot took an unnexpected slip and she automatically gripped onto Alex to save herself, although if she knew this would affect her stubborn sulking then she might have thought it through. Alex turned to catch her right away and looked down at her in a questioning gesture, to search for any anger in her eyes.

"Thanks." Femi flipped her hair back and sniffed proudly.

Femi recomposed herself and, awkwardly, avoiding Alex's handsome and concerned eyes (she was still angry with him, after all), slipped past Alex to conquer the remaining steps. As Alex watched her go, Jonathan arrived beside him to clap a sympathetic hand onto his shoulder with a sigh of empathy.

"Women," He shook his head, musing, "they know how to break us."

Alex narrowed his eyes and slowly turned to glare at his uncle. This was all his fault in the first place. If he hadn't brainwashed Carter into another of his gambling guinea-pigs then they wouldn't be in any of this mess.

"Oh my god!" Femi's alarmed voice suddenly squeaked.

Alex and Jonathan jumped apart and leapt down the last few steps to enter the hallway, lit up by more strange blue lights. Femi was standing with her back against a black, wooden door, with her hands clasped over her mouth and nose and her eyes were staring at the empty air in some sort of shock. Carl was looking back at her, monotonous.

"Baby?" Alex rushed over to her, "what happened? What'd he do?"

Femi slowly shook her head, "No... Not Carl... I saw a-... a man... he"-

Before she could finish speaking, a defeaning gunshot vibrated through the air and cracked against their eardrums; it had come from the door behind Femi. Alex licked his lips anxiously and carefully made his way towards the door, both curiosity and uncertainty swimming in his mind-

"I wouldn't," Carl interrupted calmly, "it won't be a pretty sight."

Alex spared him a suspicious glance, "What's goin' on here? If this is some kinda' trap, I swear to **god **I'll"-

"He did it to himself, Alex!" Femi exhaled, trembling, "I saw him sitting at a table, with the gun in his mouth. He did it to himself..."

"Russian roulette," Carl sighed, growing bored, "this is one of Armands' businesses. Perhaps you should have waited in the car..."

"Jesus," Alex hissed, rubbing the back of his head in distress, "are you serious?"

"It's not far, just up this hall. I suggest you walk faster." Carl nodded to him.

With that, Carl turned to continue walking, leaving the three of them to stand and linger on what they had just discovered. People were playing with their lives at this very moment. It was a bizarre, cold feeling, knowing that people would so easily gamble their very own lives. Suddenly, Jonathan's habits didn't seem so terrible.

"Come on..." Alex wrapped his arm around Femi's shoulders, "don't think about it."

Femi nodded softly and wiped her face, breathing slow. Despite her anger with him, she forgot all about it and allowed him to accompany her down the hall in the direction Carl was leading them. She needed his security right now, even if that meant letting her guard down and abandoning her sulking; up until this moment, she had always thought Russian Roulette was some kind of old legend game that no one would dare play in this modern time. Obviously, some people were purely insane.


	9. More Bloody Action

Carl led them into an office, situated at the end of the ghostly corridor and round a slight corner. It was an average sized room, filled with a work desk, a drinks cabinet and a glass display filled with wonderful antique weapons such as daggers, an axe, a Katana, guns and a Hunga Munga; Jonathan was particularly captivated by them, and more probably their wealth.

"I wouldn't touch anything if I were you," Carl told him as he walked over to the desk, "Armand is quite anal."

Jonathan heard him, but his sparkling eyes remained on the display; his pupils may as well have transformed into Pound symbols. Femi stood by the open door, rubbing her forearms stressfully, while her blank eyes stared at the floor in a trance. All she could think about was the Russian Roulette, and the man who had just given away his life for the sake of money. Alex noticed her agitated behaviour but granted her privacy as he moved over to Carl to guard him warily as he rummaged through some drawers.

"What'll they do to her brother?" Alex asked him in a quiet voice, but a serious one.

Carl didn't look up as he continued his search, "Once they discover he doesn't have the ring... they'll probably kill him."

Alex glanced over his shoulder at Femi as the dire truth washed through his mind. He couldn't allow that to happen… It would destroy her.

"_Probably_. So there's still a chance they might not." Alex stated hopefully but descreetly, for Femi's sake.

Carl gave a quick shrug, "Armand is a man of negotiation when it suits him. He can't resist a juicy deal or gamble. If he thinks about Carter's value to you, he could turn to the option of a trade. He loves a good trade."

Alex nodded softly, "They'll be following us, then."

"You can bet on it," Carl then pulled out a folded, thick piece of paper, "ah, got it."

Carl flapped the parchment in the air until it unfolded itself, to then lay it flat on the desk for both of them to clearly see. Alex moved round beside him to reach a better angle and followed Carl's finger as he trailed their journey.

"It should take us about three days to make it here," Carl stabbed his fingertip at a strange name on the map, "then we have to head through the jungle to reach the tribe. I have a friend who can guide us through."

Alex just nodded, in deep thought, his narrow eyes scanning the area of the map where Carl's finger was. The journey itself wouldn't be so difficult, but now that Alex had to think about Armand following them, Carter's safety and actually reaching this ancient 'tribe', he was a little distressed again.

"Can we go soon?" Femi timidly chirped.

Alex and Carl both looked up at her and found her standing back against the concrete wall, beside the door, with her arms folded. She was nibbling anxiously on her fingernail, which she never did unless she was very distraught about something, and her pale face was ridden with fear and upset. Both men realised how upset she was and decided it was best not to hang around, for her sake.

"I would very much like to go soon." She added politely, in her state of shock.

Leaning up, Carl folded up the map with a sigh, "We should go out the back way. I have another car. It should buy us some time if Armand should show up."

Carl stuffed the map into the inside pocket of his jacket before briskly walking around the table, Alex following, to the doorway. He stopped to look over at Femi, who nervously lifted her gaze. Their eyes met, just for a moment, before Alex interrupted them by taking up both of her hands into his.

"Let's get you out of here, doll'." He told her protectively.

Nodding, Femi forgot Carl was there and allowed Alex to pull her away from the wall and out through the doorway past him. Carl led them out the back door, positioned just beside the office, where the walked down a set of iron steps into a small car park; it was more like a large alley, with bins lining the walls of buildings which had closed off windows. It was definitely a secluded area that no one would have much interest in. Alex opened the back door for Femi who heaved an apprehensive sigh at the sight of yet another vehicle; she hated these long, anxious journeys.

"Carter's gonna' be fine," Alex told her, pulling her towards him a little, "he's tough. You know that. Armand'll try to trade him. He wouldn't waste an opportunity."

Femi almost snickered at him, "I'm glad you think so. He's a fine tool."

Her voice oozed with bitter sarcasm, with which Alex knew she was still furious with all of them for abandoning him. Femi pulled her hands free of Alex's grip and helped herself into the back seat; Alex wanted to say something, but Jonathan brushed past him and climbed into the seat next to her before he could think of what exactly. He stood, for a moment, with his hand on the car door as he stared down into the shade of the car and at Femi's sulking face. She knew he was looking at her but refused to pay him any attention. This annoyed him, greatly, and with a wriggle of his lips he finally decided to spare his pride and slammed the door shut, making Femi flinch a little. Her sad eyes lingered on the back of the seat before her as she thought over his anger, his guilt, and her own guilt. Should she really be treating him so? Was he really to be blamed?

Alex got into the front passenger seat at the same time as Carl sunk into the drivers' seat. Everyone was just strapping themselves in when a bewildering, golden light blasted intrusively into the car from behind them. Surprised, everyone looked over their shoulders with a hand in the air to try and block the light and see past it at the source. All they heard was a car engine revving threateningly.

"What is that?" Femi gasped, struggling to see.

All of a sudden, the car was attacked by a sequence of bullets which could clearly be distinguished as they cracked into its metal body and smashed all of the windows around them. Femi released a sharp yelp as she followed Jonathan in squeezing down onto the floor between their back seats and the chairs in front, and Alex and Carl sunk down as far as they could go in them. After about ten second (which is a reasonably long time for guns to be fired), silence arrived like a blanket of silk and the group were able to digest what had just happened. Femi gave a groan of discomfort and Carl bravely lifted his head to peer past his chair and out of the back window.

"You ok Femi?" Alex called back worriedly.

"Yes…" She exhaled, shaken up.

"Very clever." Carl whispered, at realising who their attackers were.

At once, Carl leant up, still half-perching his seat, and turned the key in the ignition. With a fiddle of the gear stick and a command on the clutch, he stomped his foot down upon the accelerator and sent the car flying forwards towards the opening between two buildings. This took everyone by surprise as glass shook to the floor and the sudden inertia forced them to grab onto something.

"Hang on!" Carl shouted out to everyone.

"Ooh, not again!" Jonathan cooed fretfully, "why do we always have to end up in a _bloody_ car chase?"

The car zoomed through the alleyway and grazed its sides against their concrete faces, causing silver sparks to ignite and an awful groaning sound to rumble against everyone's ears. It bashed from side to side, sparkling and hissing, until it dived out into the openness of the busy, main road where civilians and other drivers had to dive out of the way and swerve the cars away to avert a collision. Drivers beeped their horns, people shouted and shook their fists, but Carl took no noticed and continued to steer full-speed up the road - on the opposite side!

"Look out!" Femi screamed, upon spotting a red bus verging towards them, as she clutched the shoulders of Alex's seat.

Carl's eyes popped open in fright and he abruptly yanked on the steering wheel and caused the car to swerve left, sending everyone tumbling onto the right; Alex would have fallen into Carl's lap if he hadn't grabbed into the dashboard. The car bumped up onto the sidewalk where people were forced to literally leap out of the way as the black car zoomed down the pedestrian walkway, knocking newspapers stalls, hot chestnuts stalls and flowers stalls up into the air and into explosions of celebrative terror. Nuts and petals decorated the front window and Carl used the wipers to clear his view; they flew down the side of the speeding car and in through the windows to hit Alex, Femi and Jonathan in the faces.

"Hey Carl! Here's a tip!" Alex called over to him, "try _not_ hitting stuff!"

Carl didn't response as he was concentrating too much on avoiding killing any innocent people. It was madness! Femi heard a screech from the street beside them and, looking out of the back window and through her hair flapping about in the wind, she saw two large, red jeeps advancing on the other side of the road. The only thing in between them was the traffic.

"They've caught up to us!" Femi shouted up to Carl.

Glancing in his mirror, he cursed at the sight of the two jeeps. Relentless bastards. Femi then gave an emotional gasp upon vaguely recognising the shadowed profile of her dear brother who was sitting in the back seat beside two armed men.

Femi sat upright in alarm, "They have Carter!"

Alex looked over at the jeeps and Jonathan remained squished down on the floor, out the range of any bullets. Carl then spotted a rather big issue sitting across their path up ahead - a wagon was reversing out of a small road, and it wasn't moving fast! He knew he had to make a quick decision and convinced himself to take the risk and impulsively swerve off of the pavement and back into the road, throwing Femi and Alex against the car doors beside them. Cars were sent into a frenzy as they wavered along the road, skidding and honking madly, managing to manoeuvre out of their way. Carl managed to arrive onto the correct side of the road again and continued to overtake any slow drivers to avoid closing the distance between them and their enemies.

Gunfire battered the back of their car as Armand's men relentlessly attacked with waves of more bullets; people in the streets dropped to the ground or hid behind posts and in the doorways of shops and restaurants. It was absolute mayhem.

"Alex!" Femi cried from the back, as she hid behind the height of the back seats.

Alex, also ducking behind his chair, gritted his teeth in frustration; he wanted so badly to protect her, but what could he do? Carl was still occupied with his skilful driving to be able to take more action.

"Lift the floor up!" He shouted to Alex.

Alex just looked at him like he was mad.

Carl sent him an impatient look, "Under your feet - lift it up!"

At once, Alex pulled back the foot mat to find a small hole in the plastic flooring beneath it; he curled his finger into it and dislodged the lid, tossing it out the window, to find a beautiful submachine gun waiting for him. Alex almost smiled in delight. He quickly lifted it from underneath him and cocked it, ensuring it was loaded. It definitely was. Femi, however, heard the noise and moved off of poor old Jonathan to look up and see the weapon.

"No, Alex!" She clutched his shoulder, "you might hit Carter!"

Alex looked over at her, "I gotta' do somethin'! If they kill us, we'll never be able to save him!"

At that moment, several more bullets racketed around them and they had to duck once again. It was evident that something, indeed, had to be done or else they were going to end up with bullets in their heads. When the gunfire stopped again, Alex took the opportunity to look back at Femi again.

"I won't hit him," He spoke in a passionate way, "I swear."

Femi's eyes shimmered with anguish, yet she knew she trusted him. She had to. With a nod, Femi gave Alex the permission he needed to begin firing without upsetting her and hurriedly moved up towards the window. He used the end of the gun to smash away any jagged shards of glass sticking up in the frame of the window before moving up and sitting on it, so that the top half of his body was outside in the night air. Femi held onto his ankle firmly, praying for his safety. Alex perched the gun over his left shoulder and furiously begun firing bullets at the front window of the first Jeep on their tail. It wasn't easy, however, with the three cars in between them, but the Jeep was much higher than them and gave Alex perfect access to the driver. Carl took his chance to overtake another car, but an approaching vehicle on the other side forced him to promptly swerve back into his lane and if Femi hadn't been holding onto Alex ankle, he would have gone.

"Be careful!" Femi shouted angrily at Carl, "you'll kill him!"

"I'm trying!" He curtly barked back.

It was then that Carl realised they were approaching a bridge. Just great. Alex recomposed himself and brought the gun up onto his shoulder once more, not pulsating with fury and a wild urge for revenge; he was growing tired of being chased. Narrowing his eye, he waited patiently for just the right moment, with the wind against his body and all the distractions of the manic street around him, to fire the gun once again. The bullets shot directly into the front of the Jeep and covered the driver in several bullets, ending him and his time of driving. As the driver slumped in his seat, limp, and his hands fell to his sides, the passenger beside him desperately tried to take over but the Jeep swerved too suddenly and sent the vehicle toppling through the air over towards the pedestrian walkway. People screamed and scattered just in time to miss the upside-down landing of the broken vehicle. Carl smiled at seeing Alex's successful annihilation but Femi was still frowning in concern not only for her brothers' safety but that of the innocents around them.

"Alex!" Carl called over to him as loudly as he could, "heads up!"

Alex looked round, over his shoulder, to see the bridge they were approaching. It was definitely time for him to move back inside. When he plomped down onto his seat, Femi threw herself forwards and wrapped an arm around his chest to snuggle her face onto his shoulder as an expression of relief that he was ok. Alex grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Suddenly neither of them could remember why they were annoyed with each other earlier.

"They're coming up behind us!" Jonathan suddenly shouted out, blinking wildly, "just thought you ought to know!"

Everyone glanced back while Carl took a glimpse through his mirror; there was now only one car separating them. They were being brave, as they knew Carter was their safety ticket. Carl attempted to over-take the car in front of him but a large cargo truck honked its horn and forced him to fall back into place. It was too tight on the bridge to over-take widely and safely.

"Give me that!" Femi hollered to Alex.

Alex looked back at her, an eyebrow arched, "Doll'?"

Femi held her hand up, "Give me the gun, Alex!"

Her stern tone of voice gave him the encouragement to quickly hand over the long, powerful machine gun. She turned around and up onto her knees so that she could lean, forwards, against the back of her seat and aim her gun properly at the Jeep. Alex, Carl and Jonathan couldn't believe it when Femi suddenly fired several bullets and hit the shoulder of one of the men who was leaning out of the front passenger seat; he dropped his gun in his agony and withdrew into the Jeep where he squirmed and cried with pain.

"That'll teach you for stealing my brother." Femi grumbled, breathless, face still stiff with resolution.

She was trembling both with indignant anger and fear, but she had managed it. Jonathan slapped his hand onto her shoulder and shook it, grinning, to congratulate her.

"Blimey, Femi!" He exclaimed, "I had no idea!"

Femi sunk back round into her seat, "I learnt a thing or two, being with your nephew."

As she held out the gun to him, Alex's impressed eyes met with hers and she almost tweaked a cocky smile as he took it from her. In all honesty, Femi was awfully surprised with herself, but she wasn't going to let him know that. The moment of success was destroyed, however, when gunfire came back at them like snapping jaws of vengeance and collided into Carl's shoulder through the material of his chair. No one had expected it but Jonathan had felt the breeze as the silver bullet whizzed past and into Carl, who was now groaning out in pain. Distracted by his injury and suffering, he subconsciously let go of the steering wheel and grabbed onto his wound; Alex had reached over to grab the wheel just when the car behind them crashed into their backside. Armands' men had sped up, pushing into the innocent car, and forcing it forwards to knock into them. It was at this moment that the Jeep lost control. Alex was just a second too late to take control, and before any of them could understand what had gone wrong, they had crashed through the thick railings of the bridge and felt themselves lift from their seats… They were plummeting downwards, to the water below.


	10. Irony, Irony

**_Author's Notes: Hi everyone! I just want to apologise, again, for taking so long to update this story. I'm sorry if I have disappointed any of you, my loyal readers, but I can promise you that no matter how long it may sometimes take - this story WILL be FINISHED. I will not abandon it, so keep following. It will be juicy. It will be romantic. It will be SHOCKING, so if you hate cliffhangers... tough :P Enjoy..._**

They all screamed out as they saw the sparkling blackness opening its mouth to them; none of them could do anything else. Hearts racing, minds frozen - they could only watch in horror, and wait for the impact. They were all thrown forwards as they smashed into the freezing, black water and it begun to rapidly flood into the car through the smashed windows and pinch icily at their skin. At first, they were all in too much shock to decide upon any actions, and it was only when the water immersed them completely that the fear of never feeling oxygen enter their lungs again occurred.

Jonathan grabbed Femi by the arm and, turning to look at him, she could make out that he was signalling his hand towards the open window beside him. He appeared as a slight blur, but she could still understand from the way he was tugging her. Pushing the terrible endurance of the freezing water to the back of her mind, Femi used her feet and hands to drag herself through the window behind Jonathan and out into the freedom of the open water. Femi looked back momentarily with the expectation to see Alex and Carl right behind her - but they weren't. Were they still in the car? Jonathan tugged on Femi's arm once again and pulled her away from staring at the shadowed figure of the large, sinking vehicle and she knew that breaking the surface was the one thing she needed; her lungs were beginning to strain.

Kicking and waving her arms, she swam upwards beside Jonathan towards the rippling, round moon that sat high in the sky above. It made the water light up with small glitter-like particles that almost appeared magical to her. Her feet paddled anxiously to push her upwards as fast as possible and when her head broke the surface they felt sheer comfort in being able to rest for a moment; the cold, night air stabbed her face and eyes at first but the sensation of being able to breathe overpowered the discomfort. Seconds passed until Femi and Jonathan realised they were safe, but Alex and Carl were nowhere to be seen.

"Where is he?" Femi quivered to Jonathan, "Alex? _Alex_?"

She swam in circles as she desperately searched for her lover. He definitely hadn't surfaced yet.

"Oh god! He's still down there Jonathan!" Femi cried in a panic, splashing about as she continued to circle.

Jonathan inhaled a deep breath so that his cheeks blew up like a fish; he then ducked forwards and disappeared under the water. Seconds felt like hours to Femi as she bobbed alone, helpless, terrified for Alex's life in the silence of the empty water. She could hear police and fire squad sirens whispering through the City of London and the traffic on the bridge had come to a solid halt. Wherever her brother was, it was far away from those sirens now. It was so still and eerie on her own that when Jonathan surfaced with a huge gasp for air, she flinched with a light yelp of surprise. To her dismay, he was alone.

"I can't see anything," Jonathan gulped down on some air, "it's so dark down there. The car's gone."

"Oh, god…" Femi frowned deeply, feeling tears at her eyes, "we shouldn't have left him! We should have checked!"

"Give him a minute," Jonathan tried to calm her, "you know better than anyone that he'll be"-

And just like that, Alex rose from the depths of the water and inhaled a long, desperate breath to fill his lungs with air. He started coughing and blinking rapidly as he adjusted to the shock of the cold, and life.

"Alex!" Femi exclaimed emotionally.

She splashed her way over to him, completely unaware of an unconscious Carl hanging from his arm, and wrapped her arms around him in absolute joy. She would have held onto him forever if it weren't for the fact that she was dunking him back into the water.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She gasped, moving back, "I thought you were"-

"I couldn't leave him," Alex panted, smiling at her with his eyes, "the map."

"You fool," Femi splashed some water at him, "you petrified me!"

Alex sighed to himself. One moment she was happy to see him, and the next she was angry. She was like a bloody yo-yo.

"I'll say!" Jonathan added to the conversation, "my bloody life flashed before my eyes! … It wasn't as exciting as I thought it'd be."

Femi and Alex ignored his silly waffling; they were now just staring at each other in a short moment of appreciation. Femi was awfully glad to see him and her irritation had fizzed away into pure love. He was the only thing that existed in that moment.

"Is he dead?" Jonathan interrupted, pointing to Carl.

Alex shook his head, "Unconscious. I didn't have time to search for a soggy map so I just grabbed him."

Femi rolled her eyes, "You're not a murderer, Alex. The map wasn't the reason."

"Think what you want, doll face," Alex snickered, "this guy is nothing to me but a giant map. Got that?"

Femi knew that he was denying his softer side, his human side - his moral side. Alex would never have left him behind if he was mapless. It was just his excuse. The sirens had now arrived on the bridge and voices could be heard shouting from the officers scouting the accident scene. It was time to go.

"Jonathan," Alex beckoned him over, "come help me with this oaf."

Jonathan swam over and took Carls' other arm to take some of weight off of Alex and then, with Femi following, headed towards the riverbank beside the bridge. It was far too dark for anyone to have seen them. When they reached the shore, Carl was set down on the ground and Jonathan had to lie next to him to catch his breath. Alex and Femi were fine.

"Come on," Jonathan frowned with embarrassment, "you haven't had thirty years added onto you, now, have you?"

He held up his aged hand and twinkled the ring at them in his defence. They had completely forgotten. Femi frowned and felt a mixture of anger and sympathy rouse inside of her. This was all Jonathan and Carter's fault, after all, but she couldn't help feeling sorry for Jonathan's position. A soft groaning coming from Carl stole everyone's attention and they saw him stirring from his slumber; he awoke with a sharp hiss and grabbed his wounded shoulder only to bark out in pain and rip it away again.

Carl opened his eyes, "Jesus god-damn, mother _f"-_

"We get it," Alex rolled his eyes, "unc, I need some of your shirt."

"What?" Jonathan blinked owlishly, stepping backwards, "why mine?"

"Because this is all your fault and I'll literally shoot you if you don't give it to me." Alex bluntly responded as he approached him.

"Now, now," Jonathan chuckled awkwardly, removing his waist jacket at once, "let's be civilised my dear, baby nephew!"

Alex marched over to him where he forwardly ripped Jonathan's sleeve and stripped it from his arm without any hint of hesitation. Femi's eyes wandered down onto Carl, who was lying with his eyes clenched shut and his hand hovering by his bloody shoulder. She felt sorry for him. All he had done was try to help them. When Alex had ripped the sleeve free, he turned and walked back over to Carl.

"No problem," Jonathan held a sarcastic hand up, "you're perfectly welcome."

Alex ignored him and threw the sleeve down to Carl, "Here. It should stop the bleeding till' we get to Moss' place."

"Moss?" Femi repeated in disbelief, "since when did we agree on that?"

Alex didn't look at her, "We didn't. I just decided."

As Carl tied up his shoulder using his teeth and free hand, Femi rushed up to her lover and looked up into his face with a determined expression of disapproval. Alex tried to avoid her stare.

"Stop that." He grunted at her.

"Alex, I'm not going back there. That house is full of wild animals! You do remember what happened last time, don't you?" Femi scolded him, shaking her head.

"It's just a couple of farm animals, Femi," Alex sighed, "n' plus, Armand'll never find us there and Moss has transport. You know if anyone can get's to Mexico fast, it's him."

Femi released a long sigh of disappointment and rubbed her forehead. Moss was lovely to them last time, but the night ended in gunfight, explosions and Meela nearly killing them. Not to mention the snakes lying around his house… And besides, why on earth would Moss simply welcome them back into his home after they almost destroyed it last time?

"And how do you plan on getting us there, exactly?" Femi brutishly quizzed him.

Alex smirked, "Doll', have you learnt anything' from me?"

"Oh, do you happen to be referring to the skills of firing fire a gun in the middle of a life-endangering car chase? No. Certainly not, Alex." Femi sarcastically bit back at him, folding her arms.

"Good on ya', old mum." Jonathan supported her with a punch of the air.

Alex just turned around and sent him a small glare; Jonathan resorted to his usual, simple silence where he knew he was safe. Alex turned back to look at Femi, who was still standing with her arms folded and lips pouted stubbornly.

"We're going. That's that." Alex told her, before walking off.

Femi looked up at the starlit sky and sighed quietly to herself. Why did he never consider asking her first? He was always like that. Deciding by himself, never giving her the chance. That probably explained the reason he still hadn't proposed to her… That was all Femi wanted. A life with Alex, as a couple, together. As a family. When Femi looked down from the sky, she saw Carl was now standing and watching her subtly as he put his jacket back on, covering his wound. Femi didn't look away but nor did she feel totally comfortable in staring into those strangely handsome eyes of his. He was supposed to be the bad guy, so why did she not despise him?

"Come on!" Alex called back to them as he marched up the hillside, "we haven't got time to stand around!"

Jonathan walked past Femi, stealing her away from Carls' eyes that glowed a lovely hazel beneath his black fringe. He had lost his hat, and now his full and playful hair had added to his overall appearance and character. By the time Femi and Jonathan had reached the top of the hill, leading onto the busy roadside, Alex had already caught the attention of a passing taxi it was pulling over to service him. Femi heard him give the address, but upon being asked for money, she froze in total puzzlement as she saw him remove his watch and hand it to the driver.

"Alex!" Femi marched over to him, "that was your father's…"

Alex turned, sighing, and opened the back door, "Yeah well if we don't get in this cab, the whole world might end. Kinda' not bothered about a watch right now."

Femi weighed the idea in her mind and realised he was right. They had to sort this whole 'Quetzalcoatl' nonsense out or else he would become free and transform their world as they knew it. A watch, for a world. Simple choice.

"Stop worryin' about me, doll," Alex smirked down at her, "I know what I'm doin'. Your worth a million times more than some watch, got that?"

His words made her blush faintly, but she nodded nonetheless and allowed him to help her into the cab. He got in after her where he scooched up beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders so that she could fall onto him, safe and snug. Jonathan sat beside them while Carl moved into the front. Femi leant her head against Alex's damp chest as the driver pulled the car away from the side of the road and performed a U-Turn to head away from the bridge and towards the train station. Femi loved the way Alex wrapped his arms around her and made her feel so safe, and the way she could hear his breathing and heart beat. But all she could think about was her poor brother.

"You alright there son?" The old cab driver ask Carl, glancing at him once.

Carl was sitting, leaning to one side to rest his shoulder, and he appeared stiff and quite pale. It was obvious something was wrong.

"I'm fine." Was all he said back, through slightly gritted teeth.

The cab driver took this as a hint to stop being nosey, despite his genuine expression of concern for him. The remainder of the journey consisted with silence from the group as they watched London drift past them and their minds swelled with recollections of everything that had happened so far, and what was to come. It was s bizarre, watching the naïve world go by. None of them had a single idea what Femi and the group were involved with; it was their secret and it had to remain that way, but there was something awfully ironic about it as they strolled along in their fancy outfits on the way to an expensive dinner or theatre show as they marched on to save them.

When they arrived at the station, the group looked to the timetable board for the correct platform and waited until their train arrived, which was only fourteen minutes. When it arrived, Alex took them all on board and quickly found them an empty cabin which they could hide away in for the hour journey ahead. Locking the door after him, Alex pulled down the blinds at all windows to ensure that no one could see inside. They had no ticket after all.

Femi sat back in her seat and gazed out of the window at the other side of the platform. All the women looked so elegant and pretty, with their husbands standing beside them, laughing and chatting about anything and everything. Femi wanted that. A promise from Alex, a happy life, good friends. Right now, all that seemed a lifetime away… Femi felt more irony stabbing at her. Alex had spotted Femi gazing longingly at the group and automatically understood the reason for the lonely sloping in the corner of her lips. He knew. And as they disappeared out of the station and Femi lost interest, she looked away to find Alex staring at her. There wasn't much expression in his face, but she could tell by his eyes that he knew. Femi just faked a tender smile. This, Alex also knew.

The whistle blew from the train conductor and seconds later the engines begun to hiss and churn in a catchy rhythm that relaxed Femi. Jonathan was busy observing the ring on his finger, questioning it and admiring it at the same time. It was strange, how such a beautiful thing could be so deadly.

"Just make sure… you don't wish for anything else." Carl teased through his breathlessness.

Jonathan looked up, a little unnerved, "Nothing's worth my youth, mate, I can tell you that. I like my women young. Firm."

Femi tutted and rolled her eyes but Carl smiled in amusement at his comment. There was nothing like a bit of sense of humour to lighten the serious mood.

"It does look rather… royal on me… doesn't it." Jonathan arrogantly commented, holding his hand up.

"No." Both Femi and Alex said, sending him a _don't-even-think-about-it _stare.

Jonathan frowned at them a little but shrugged nonetheless, "All the while, I'd love to get the darn thing off. I feel like making wishes in my head are even out of bounds."

"The ring's bound to you- ah"- Carl paused with a little wince, "you can't get it off. Not till' all four wishes are made."

The train begun to gracefully roll along its tracks and the platform slowly rolled on by, leaving the fancy gowns and tux's as a stained memory on Femi's mind. Soon, it was blankness outside apart from the dottings of light around the City.

"Well," Alex sighed, in response to Carl's last comment, "hopefully this Totonac tribe can help us with that."

"Hopefully." Jonathan repeated in agreement, though he was still musing over the ring.

Femi kept her mystified eyes on the views outside, "That's if Armand doesn't beat us there."

She was right. Her words of truth bestowed a philosophical silence upon the group, brains ticking and hopes weighing heavily. It was a race against time, but Femi and her companions were well experienced with that. They were quite familiar with the concept of stay alive, move fast and, consequently, save the world from perish.


	11. Loving Love

It was nearly two in the morning when they pulled up outside Moss' grand estate; the top of his mansion just could about be seen poking over the large wooden walls surrounding it, the moonlight creating an eerie effect. It looked quite unnerving in the middle of the night. Climbing out of the cab, Alex left Jonathan to escort the half-standing Carl and approached the front door with Femi right beside him. Three knocks to the gate echoed like the voice of Zeus in the silent countryside.

"What if he's not home?" Femi whispered apprehensively, glancing up at Alex's shadowed face.

Alex smirked, "A man with as many gadgets and wild animals has no social life, Femi."

Just as Jonathan and Carter arrived behind them and the taxi drove off, the iron panel on the large gate slid across with a hiss to reveal a tanned face wearing an eye-patch. The other eye was bright blue with long, luscious eyelashes curling upwards. Alex and the gang reacted to the strange face with wrinkled noses of confusion.

"Who are you?" The person, a woman, purred in a milky accent.

Femi and Alex glanced to each other, a little lost, and Alex snatched up the responsibility of being spokesman – obviously.

"We're friends of Moss. Is he around?" Alex asked curiously.

The woman eyed Alex up and down, "Moss has no friends. Just me."

Femi politely asked, "Are you his wife?"

The woman snorted, "I see. You see a one-eyed Egyptian woman and assume that I have been married off to a fool like Moss…"

Femi blushed in embarrassment and scrambled her brain to try and find some justification in her question; she was stuck, as if glue bound her tongue to the roof of her mouth. Alex stepped up to the plate and took over again

"We need his help. It's a matter of life or death," Alex stared at her with hard eyes, "I'd like t speak to him, myself."

"That won't be possible," The woman cockily tutted, "he's out of town. Business."

Jonathan rolled his eyes sourly, "Great…"

"When will he be back?" Alex tried not to show his temper.

The woman sighed, "It could be a day, a week – who knows, with that useless weed."

Femi turned away from the gate to exhale an expression of dire disappointment and fury. This was becoming a complete mess.

"I wish this wasn't happening…" She uttered under her breath.

"I wish you would tell me what it is you actually want from my cousin." The mysterious woman stated.

Jonathan angrily lifted his shoulder, "Well _I _wish that you would all"-

"NO!" Femi and Alex shouted at him.

Jonathan froze, mid-panic, and blinked at their wild faces with a little less intelligence than a monkey. He suddenly realised what he was about to say and sucked his lips inwards as if praying that he would never be able to produce words again. What an idiot!

"Keep those thoughts to yourself, uncle," Alex growled at him, "in fact – just – don't even _think_ about wishes! Got that?"

"Strange people…" Moss' cousin muttered to herself, "your friend looks sick."

She looked to Carl, causing everyone else to look at him, and saw that he was breaking out into a gammy sweat. His eyes were half-shut and poor Jonathan was straining under his weight.

"We had a car crash," Alex explained, "people are chasing us-… we have something-… it could mean the end of the world as we know it. Please, look, can you just get Moss back? If he just knew…"

The woman remained quiet in her own deliberation. Her single blue eye studied them, deeply, picking at their strings and evaluating their situation.

"You can see we're on a threat to you!" Alex exclaimed in desperation.

"Please…" Femi whispered with puppy eyes, "we have nowhere else to go."

And that was the straw on the camel's back. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, more at herself than the group, Moss' cousin slid the panel shut and the sound of bolts crumbling and clicking brought smiles to Alex and Femi's faces. Finally, some hope. The gate opened and the woman revealed herself in a pair of dark trousers and a white shirt with sandals and a scarf around her head to keep her dark hair pulled away from her face. Alex walked in first, the rest following slowly.

"I am Samira. You will do well to respect this house – it may not be mine by law, but it is in blood." Samira told them authoritatively as she watched them filed into the driveway.

Femi sent her a look of gratitude, to which Samira just nodded once. Samira locked the gate before leading them up to the front door and into the house; the familiar entrance lobby sent a wave of memories crashing over Femi's shoulders from their previous mission not so long ago. Hardly anything had changed, even after the destruction inflicted on the property from Meela and her savage men. There was even a small, brown pig snuffling about in the next hall. Nothing had changed.

"Come." Samira called them calmly.

The group followed her into the living room and settled on the long, leather couch (Jonathan draped Carl into the lap of a large armchair). Samira stared at Carl in concern.

"Has he any wounds?" She asked curiously.

Alex shook his head, "No."

"Then it must be internal. I can tend to him." Samira offered graciously.

Femi smiled weakly, "Thank you…"

"So," Samira folded her legs and sat back in her seat, "do I _want _to know what fate has hold for this world, or am I better off without such information?"

"It depends." Alex shrugged coolly.

Samira tilted her head in wonder.

Alex sighed, "On how much you can handle."

Samira then gave a nod, as her permission for him to tell her everything, and he did. Femi stared at the coffee table in front of her legs while listening to another repeat of the insane situation they had unfortunately been dragged into. Samira's expression didn't change by a tweak as she ingested all of the wild information. It was as though she'd heard it already. Carl released a faint groan in his sleep, catching the attention of Femi, who sympathetically watched him with a vague frown. Carl didn't seem like the horrible crook he had presented himself to be on their first acquaintance, at the antique fair. He was brave, clever and quite caring, deep down. If he didn't care then why had he been helping them all this time?

Femi felt someone looking at her and suddenly realised that Alex was staring at her; she remained fixed with his gaze as, obviously, she had no reason to feel guilty or alarmed, but something glimmered in Alex's handsome eyes that told Femi he was bothered by something. Not just by their predicament, but deeper. Alex could be the 'protective' type a little too passionately sometimes.

"I see…" Samira sighed loudly, after hearing Alex's final words.

Alex shrugged off his concern for Femi and Carl, looking back to Samira, "Yeah… and we need to get to Mexico. Fast. We don't have time to wait for tickets; we need to leave as soon as possible. Moss helped us out last time with an aircraft…?"

Samira almost chuckled, "I am afraid to say that Moss no longer owns any aircrafts. In fact, he lost quite a lot of his 'toys' a few months. He has some serious debt."

Alex looked to his uncle with a stale frown as he spoke, "Yeah… we know how that feels."

Jonathan avoided his stare like a guilty child despite being perfectly aware of the accusing bolts his nephew was sparking at him. This was all his fault, still.

"So your uncle," Samira looked to Jonathan, "is actually twenty years younger than he looks?"

A little curl of amusement shifted across her lips as she pondered over the idea. It was strange, but fascinating nonetheless. Her uncovered, healthy eye slithered down his chest to fall onto his hand, resting upon his knee, where the beautiful cursed ring twinkled against his finger. So much power on such a small thing.

"You will stay tonight," Samira confirmed confidently, "I may be able to arrange something for you. My cousin may be a reckless fool, but he has useful contacts."

"Thank you." Alex bowed his head slightly in respect.

Samira then stood up and brushed her trousers, "I will see to your friend."

"He's not a friend," Alex childishly corrected her, "he's a map."

Femi didn't quite understand why her loving partner felt it necessary to say such a thing, but more so, to look directly at her when he said it. What exactly was he insinuating? His motives were always a mystery to Femi.

"Well, whatever he is to you, you obviously don't want him dead or else he wouldn't be here," Samira wisely responded, "you are free to find yourself a bed for the night or wait here while I fix him."

Just at that moment, a monstrous black spider revealed itself from the shelter of Samira's chair, its legs long and hairy and its body the size of Jonathan's nose. It was enough for Femi to make up her mind and, leaping up, she rushed round behind the leather sofa to use it as a guard.

"I think I'll go to bed… Exhausted." She uttered while watching the spider cautiously.

Samira, glancing at the spider, smiled at Femi's weakness in entertainment before walking out of the room to fetch some supplies. Alex stood, also, as a means to take Femi to bed.

"I think I'll stay here…" Jonathan cleared his throat, "you know, keep the girl company. It's only fair as she's helping us."

Alex rolled his eyes at Jonathan, knowing exactly what his intentions were by keeping Samira 'company'. He was always thinking about three things – money, alcohol and women. Femi and Alex left him to it and made their way back into the entrance lobby, up the grand spiralling staircase, and tickled their sense of 'déjà vu' as they walked the upstairs hall in search for a room to share.

"It's funny…" Femi softly spoke, admiring the paintings on the walls, "the last time we were here, we couldn't stand each other."

Alex smirked, "If I remember correctly, you _pretended _you couldn't stand me."

Femi glanced at him with a playful tease in her eyes, "Oh, really? Is that how you recall it, darling? You always did have such an imagination."

Chuckling, Alex opened the door to a random room and led Femi inside. It was of average size with a double bed covered in golden sheets. The thick, red curtains were pulled back to reveal the night sky and her twinkling children and Femi couldn't resist walking to the windows to adore them peacefully. Alex, shutting the door, removed his over-jacket and hung it on the dressing table.

"You shouldn't trust Carl." Alex suddenly said.

Surprised, Femi looked at him over her shoulder with a perplexed little smile. Alex remained standing on his spot on the other side of the room. He wasn't smiling.

"He may seem ok, but he's not," Alex continued to explain in a low voice, "he's trying to trick us into trusting him so that he can steal the ring for himself."

"Alex…" Femi turned to face him fully, "how exactly do you think he plans to steal the ring while it's attached to your uncle's body?"

"Don't patronise me, doll," Alex sneered, moving to the bed, "I'm just saying… you've got a big heart. It always gets you in trouble."

Femi watched him, sadly and with soft eyes, as her lover sat down on the end of their bed and commenced in taking his boots off. Why was he always so worried about her?

"It led me to you, didn't it?" Femi tilted her head sweetly.

"No," Alex snorted, "your father's kidnapping led you to me."

Femi's attempts at keeping the atmosphere light and avoiding any conflict crumbled away. Alex was being difficult and Femi didn't understand why. It was like a ton of bricks weighed on his shoulders, but from what?

"What is it…" Femi huffed and walked over to him.

Alex didn't speak as he pulled off his second boot.

Femi stood before him with a stubborn glare, "Come on. Talk. Don't be intractable. I fell in love with a man, not a boy."

Humility prickled at Alex's cheeks and he froze, processing the sarcastic blow delivered by his usually dainty girlfriend. He finally leant back to meet her gaze with his own tough, unyielding one.

"And I fell in love with a smart woman, not a floozy." Alex rudely retorted.

Femi gasped, her hands falling down from her hips, "Excuse me?"

Alex stood up and pushed past her, "Don't act all surprised; you know what this is about."

"I obviously do _not_!" Femi turned to watch him in shock, "all I know is that you're acting absurd! And if you want me to guess, then apparently it's because I have chosen to spare mercy on a man who has done nothing but help us so far."

"Ah," Alex grunted cynically, "that's what he wants you to think. See, you're already arguing with me over him."

"Is that what this is about?" Femi shook her furious head, "jealousy?"

Alex pretended to laugh but Femi could see straight through his act. It was definitely about jealousy. Femi folded her arms tightly across her chest and narrowed her scolding, disappointed eyes at the back of Alex's head and when he eventually turned to face her he paused in surprise.

"Of course not." He snickered, covering up his real feelings.

Femi rolled her eyes, "I knew it! You don't like Carl, and therefore you don't want me to like him either."

"Is that so shameful?" Alex genuinely laughed his time, "a little support from my woman?"

"Ugh," Femi just held up an appalled hand, "_woman_? Where has your respect gone, Alex?"

Alex pointed, "Where's your loyalty?"

Femi's hand lowered in unison with her mouth. She just looked at him like he was a poor, lost soul, drenched in rain and covered in sorrow. He was so disappointing…

"Enjoy a bed to yourself." Femi whispered bitterly.

She spun on her heels and stormed over to the bedroom door. Just as she grabbed the handle, Alex's cantankerous and obstinate voice called after her.

"Oh yeah, that's _real _mature." He sneered impulsively.

The sound of the door slamming behind her sent a sad squeeze to Femi's stomach. She hated fighting with Alex especially as they hardly ever did. Their disagreements were always so ridiculously pointless as well! Femi was halfway down the hall when something inside her made her slow down… and stop. The squeeze in her stomach had crept up to her heart and disabled her control over her body. Soon, she found herself turning around and walking speedily back towards the bedroom with a racing mind and burning cheeks of worry; what were they arguing about? It was so stupid! Just as Femi was a few feet away from the door, it opened, and out rushed Alex who appeared equally as flustered as Femi did.

The couple greeted each other with a large hug, exhaling in relief, and Femi pressed her cheek against his chest while Alex nuzzled his nose on the top of her soft, dark head. He hated being without her. Living with her had only made him crave her more when they were apart; coming home to her at the end of every day was the best part of his routine. And getting her to bed.

"I'm sorry." Femi whispered gently against him, her eyes tightly shut.

Alex kissed the top of her head, "Yeah… me too…"

Just at this stage of their make-up, Jonathan released a gruesome belch from the end of the hallway and caused the loving couple to jump. They looked back at him as he stood winking stupidly at them.

"Sorry to interrupt," He tactlessly purred, "I came to find my room… but, uh"-

Alex glared at him, "Then find it."

"What happened to you keeping Samira company?" Femi teased with a smile.

Jonathan rubbed the back of his head, walking towards them, "Oh, you know… she said I looked exhausted. She only thought of my wellbeing, you know. Damn sweet of her, the saucy minx."

Femi giggled gently as Jonathan winked once more to emphasise his perverted nature. Alex, taking Femi's hand, bid his uncle goodnight before whisking her away into the bedroom where they could have some privacy; Jonathan gazed at their door, which was now shut and locked, and listened to the echo of Femi's aroused giggling from the other side of it. He sighed sorrowfully and entered his own room while whispering.

"Love… I wish I had a damned lady to love…"

-0-

It was the next morning; the curtains were still wide open in their bedroom and therefore the golden sunlight blasted into the room and pressured Femi and Alex's eyelids until they could take it no more. Groaning, Femi rolled over and let her arm fall across Alex's chest, waking him up for good.

"Thanks, doll…" He sarcastically breathed.

Femi grumbled something but the pillowcase against her squashed cheek made it difficult for Alex to understand. He gently rolled out of bed to give a tall stretch before dressing his naked body and moving to the window to look out at the beautiful morning. Femi soon joined him, although she took a little longer to dress herself while Alex amused himself by kissing the parts of her body she was trying to cover.

"Stop it!" Femi laughed as she finally managed to pull her shirt over her head.

Alex pulled her against him, front behind, and kissed her cheek while she buttoned up her shirt. Every time he did that, Femi's knees would nearly turn to jelly. How was it possible that she still felt like it was only their third date? They walked out into the hallway together and Alex decided to knock on his uncle's door to wake and ready him for the day ahead; it was going to be a long one. Hopefully Samira would keep to her word and help them on their way to Mexico. Alex smiled back at Femi, sending her more charming love, and the sound of the door squeaking open stole his attention back from her. But it wasn't his uncle.

"AH!" Alex leapt back, pointing at arm's length.

Femi's hands flew to her chest in alarm both from Alex's outburst and the appearance of the stranger in the doorway. There stood a naked, flawless young woman with long, mahogany hair cascading down her front and covering her breasts and her eyes were as pale as the ashes of a fire. Her skin was tanned and covered in strange, brown markings consisting of swirls, loops, symbols and clusters of dots all around her wrists, ankles, upper arm and throat. It was the most unusual thing!

"Hello." The young woman spoke in a pure, smooth voice.

"Oh," Alex quickly whirled away, clutching his eyes eyes, "s-sorry, I didn't"-

"We didn't expect Jonathan to have a guest!" Femi finished for Alex, also averting her gaze.

The strange woman smiled seductively and then an alarming howl came from the bedroom, from Jonathan. He sounded petrified. At once, Alex barged past the woman with one hand held against the side of his face to avoid seeing any more of her naked body and Femi ran behind him to see what the commotion was all about. Jonathan lay on the bed with the duvet covering his lower half, but the top half was completely on show. And even more wrinkled than before.

Femi and Alex gaped down at their uncle while panting in alarm. Jonathan had aged once again.

Jonathan looked up at them, nearly in tears, "I didn't… I don't think I did… Oh GOD!"

Femi and Alex looked to each other, to exchange suspicions with their eyes, and then directly back at the doorway where the half-naked woman stood patiently and watching them rather hypnotically. It was obvious that she had something to do with ths... What on earth had Jonathan gone and wished for THIS time?


	12. A Daughter's Burden

"What the jimmeny-cricket is going on?" Jonathan screamed at his wide-spread hands, "under the virgin blasted Mary herself, someone get this _damned_ ring off of me!"

Scrambling out of bed, Jonathan was so distraught over his new wrinkles that he had forgotten all about his lack of clothing; Femi was forced to spin away as he trotted around the bedroom like a madman, everything hanging, while trying to rip his own finger off. Alex stood momentarily stiff while processing the panic in the room and, finally, he grabbed onto his uncle and tackled him onto the bed to stop him from harming himself.

"Stop!" Alex growled as he wrestled with his uncle.

"I'm done! It's got me! I can't take it any longer!" Jonathan howled ridiculously in Alex's arms, "you'll have to go on without meeee!"

Alex then cast a sharp 'thump' to the back of Jonathan's head with his tight fist and Jonathan froze in mid-panic. Jonathan blinked a couple of times as his body muscles relaxed and his eyes detected a third person hovering in the doorway of the room. He saw the beautiful _naked_ woman standing there as she studied them from a distance and his jaw nearly dropped into his lap and his eyes hit the wall opposite him. Alex took the opportunity to throw a thin bed-sheet around his uncle's frail waist to allow Femi some comfort.

Jonathan was in a trance, "Who's _she_?"

Alex glanced over at the woman while tying the linen into a knot at his ribs, "You tell me!"

Femi looked over at the strange woman half-suspicious but also quite enviously. Her skin was flawless, hair long and glossy, and those glowing eyes… those plump lips… those perfect breasts and long, slender legs. Was she real?

"Um…" Femi forced herself to be brave, "are… are you alright?"

At first, the woman just stared at her in curiosity, much like a lost dog. Femi turned to face her fully and took a step forwards as a gesture of peace.

"What'd you wish for this time, huh?" Alex nudged his uncle impatiently, "what'd you _do_?"

Jonathan shrugged desperately, "I-I-I-I-I haven't the foggiest! I swear, on my baby nephew! I can't remember a blasted thing… Maybe… maybe I said something in my sleep?"

Jonathan looked skywards while tapping his lip contemplatively; Alex just sneered, feeling cynical, and tore his attention onto Femi. Femi was cautiously wrapping a dressing gown around the woman's shoulders to grant her some privacy and the woman looked at the clothing strangely, as if not knowing what to do with it.

"You… wear it," Femi almost giggled at the peculiar girl, "see?"

The unusual woman gradually adjusted to the sensation of the fabric and allowed Femi to pull the string tight at her stomach to hold the gown around her body. She started stroking it in adoration.

"What in the name of the Pharaoh is all the commotion about?" Samira's sharp voice called down the hall.

She came to a skidding halt in the hallway and entered the bedroom quite breathless and alarmed and, upon seeing the robed woman, she looked to Femi in a search for explanation.

Femi sighed in dry disappointment, "Guess…"

Samira instantly moved her gaze onto Jonathan who reacted with an expression of false surprise and guilt. He touched his heart emotionally.

He pouted his thin, wearing lips, "Why does everyone blame everything on me?"

Alex glared at him, "Because everything _is_ your fault!"

"Your hair is almost grey," Samira announced observantly to Jonathan, "last night, it was brown."

Jonathan gasped and practically leapt up to see his reflection in the oval mirror on the wall. He gaped at his own reflection while pinching at his greying hair and worn cheeks. He still looked like Jonathan, the same mouth, same ears, same eyes, but his skin was thinner and showing more wrinkles and freckles than before.

"Oh lord…" He groaned and hung his head, "my pretty little head!"

"Of all people who had to put on that ring…" Alex grumbled under his breath, "why him?"

Jonathan lifted his head and spotted the mysterious tattooed woman watching him in the reflection. Her eyes were soft but scared as they stalked him.

Jonathan turned to face her, "Why are you here - who are you?"

The woman grasped her hands together in worry, "My father sent me to you…"

"Quetzalcoatl?" Femi asked giddily and rather excitedly.

The woman nodded, "I am Ixactzinochitl."

Jonathan nearly laughed, "That's quite some name…"

Ixactzinochitl smiled weakly, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jonathan beamed flirtatiously.

"Oi," Alex warned him, pointing lightly at his nose, "don't even start that."

Jonathan shrugged fearfully, "It **is** quite some name, though!"

Alex went to move towards his uncle, more than likely to hit him again, but Femi put her hands up as a pleading for his good nature.

"Alex!" She gasped in a scolding tone.

Alex looked at his lover and was shocked to see how calm she was in the situation, and more so, that she was taking Jonathan's side on the matter.

"Don't 'Alex' me – look what he's done! He's brought back some chick from nearly three thousand years ago!"

"Two-thousand, eight-hundred and fifty-three, actually…" Ixactzinochitl corrected timidly from her spot by the door.

Alex just glanced at her and the woman avoided his hard, dark stare. It was the stare that had made Femi's heart flutter not so long ago when she had first seen him look at her with that expression… It made Ixactzinochitl blush weakly.

Samira interrupted the tension with a clap of her hands, "I think we should have some tea."

"Good idea." Femi smiled awkwardly, clapping, glad to be relieved from the silence.

Samira led them all out into the hallway and Femi kindly escorted Ixactzinochitl by linking arms with her. Ixactzinochitl stared down at their link in amazement and Femi smiled to herself.

"Don't worry," Femi whispered, "we're not as incongruous as we seem."

Ixactzinochitl wanted to smile but Femi's use of baffling vocabulary repressed her. The depression of her reality turned her cheeks to cement; this world was strange and cold, nothing like the home she remembered. What had happened to the leaves, the sweet, hot air, the singing birds and loving mountains? These questions reoccurred in her mind as she sat stiffly in the leather armchair in the lounge area; Femi, Alex and Jonathan couldn't stop staring at her. They couldn't believe she was actually there! Samira finally brought in a silver tray and set it on the coffee table to reveal the china cups, saucers and teapot. Ixactzinochitl's nose wrinkled in confusion.

Femi realised someone had to start talking soon, "So… Ixact-… Ixa-…. Xactin-…"-

"Ixactzinochitl." The woman corrected her calmly with a nod.

Femi sighed bashfully, "I'm sorry… May I call you Ixa?"

Jonathan clicked his fingers in excitement, "Brilliant idea, Femi! Smart girl. Very good."

Alex just rolled his eyes at his tactless uncle, always acting so desperate in front of the women. Alex definitely got his charms from his dad.

"Of course," Ixa nodded elegantly, "it must be strange for you to hear."

Femi smiled gently, "Well, Ixa… You say your father sent you here… Do you know why? What for?"

Ixa glanced at Jonathan, slightly embarrassed, "For love."

Alex, Femi and Samira slowly moved their eyes onto Jonathan in total disbelief. Jonathan wanted the ground to swallow him up when he suddenly remembered the wish he had made… Oh god… How embarrassing! Slapping his face into his hands, he grumbled in dire frustration with himself.

"I know…" He uttered through his fingers, "I'm a reckless moron – a selfish imbecile – an absolute disgrace… But you should know, really… I'm just a lonely fool…"

"Save it." Alex snapped mercilessly.

Femi sighed at the ceiling in dismay, "Oh my…"

"How long will you have to stay here?" Samira spoke gingerly, as if waiting for Ixa to disappear in a puff of smoke or something equally miraculous.

Ixa shook her head sadly, "I do not know… My father can be… vague."

"A liar, you mean." Alex reprimanded angrily.

Ixa frowned slightly, "He means well… For his people."

Alex snorted, "Yeah, sure. So by threatening to destroy their world to bring back his, that's completely loving."

"You don't know what it was like…" Ixa looked like she wanted to cry as she clutched the arms of her chair, "my father was a prisoner to those people."

"And a good thing, too!" Alex slapped his lap aggressively, "your father wasn't kept in that ring for the people to keep hold of their beloved God – it was to _protect themselves_ from him."

Ixa glared back at Alex and her electric eyes almost exploded with fury; Femi shoved a teacup into Alex's chest and he took it sourly and begrudgingly.

"So, I suppose you'll be joining us, then…" Femi anxiously spoke, pouring Alex's tea for him.

Ixa tried not to shoot flames at Alex's handsome head, "Where?"

"To Mexico," Femi explained, "we can't hardly leave you here, alone."

Samira swallowed her tea, "Your flight leaves at six tonight."

Everyone looked to Samira in question.

"I arranged someone to take you to Mexico City. You will have to make your own way to the Totonacs from there…" Samira licked her lips once in satisfactory.

"Thank you," Femi smiled dramatically and sat upright, "oh, Samira, thank you!"

Alex smirked to himself, enjoying seeing his girlfriend ignite so suddenly. He loved how Femi appreciated people's kindness, and that it made her so extremely happy. Femi's consideration for people, the earth and loyalty was what he loved so much about her. That, and her cute little toosh.

"Fear not, Ixa," Jonathan leant towards her with a sleazy smoulder across his face, "you can share a cabin with me… I'll look out for you, cherub."

Ixa just blinked back at him, unsure as to what his strange expression meant, and not knowing why he was showing it to her. These people were odd.

"Are you hurt?" Ixa sweetly asked him.

Jonathan's face fell blank while Alex snickered to himself; what a rejection.

"Your friend is still resting. You have a few hours to prepare." Said Samira, in order to save Jonathan from another epic fail at charming women.

Jonathan frowned down into his lap and studied his wrinkled, spotted hands in sorrow. No wonder Ixa didn't recognise his handsome pouting – he looked like he was sixty! He didn't blame her for not wanting to flirt or even accept his offer. Jonathan was totally lost…

"I'm going back to bed." Jonathan sighed gloomily.

He stood up, his head hanging low, and lazily waved his hand as a gesture of goodbye as he walked out of the room. Femi frowned after him while stirring her thoughts and feelings; one side of her was furious with Jonathan and the other sympathised greatly. Poor chap.

Ixa looked to Femi curiously, "Are you sure he isn't hurt?"

"He's distraught," Alex snapped at the girl, "because your _dad _keeps sucking the life out of him."

"Maybe he should stop wishing for nonsensical things." Ixa cleverly and bravely snapped back at him.

Alex and Ixa commenced in a glaring competition and Femi looked to and from the pair, wondering why they had become so hateful towards one another. They had only known each other for ten minutes! But then again, Alex was always terrible with first impressions.

When Femi had finished her tea, she whisked Ixa away from the group to organise some appropriate clothing. This consisted of a long, grey dress with a waist-coat and some comfortable boots, provided by the generous Samira. Femi wanted to laugh as she watched Ixa pick and prod the material of her clothes.

"I know it's strange," Femi told her in reassurance, "but it suits you."

Slowly, Ixa lifted her head and looked at Femi with a strange wonder in her electric eyes. They held such power over Femi that she couldn't look away.

"Is something wrong?" Femi whispered, in awe.

Ixa paused for a second, "You and your partner…. Alex… you are very much in love."

Femi blushed slightly, "Well, yes…."

Ixa frowned down at her hands, "That is what my father sent me here for… but… I do not think I can love Jonathan."

Femi's face also sank into a frown and she stepped towards Ixa to touch her shoulder warmly. Poor thing. It was a terrible pressure to place on his daughters' shoulders. Quetzalcoatl obviously didn't care much for his offspring.

"And you don't have to," Femi sighed sympathetically, "he's a wonderful man… but you owe nobody anything. We're going to sort this all out. I promise."

Ixa looked back up with desperate eyes, "I want to find love… like you and Alex."

Femi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Oh, Ixa… I-… I don't know what to say. Love is a strange thing."

Ixa just nodded and pretended to be fascinated with her fingernails again. Femi was usually skilled with words, but at that moment, she couldn't think of anything appropriate to say. It was a bizarre situation that Femi could find no logic for. Poor Ixa, and poor Jonathan.


	13. Suspicious Flying

Femi waited in the entrance lobby with a rucksack of supplies hanging from her little shoulder; it kept tugging on her hair, causing her to hiss and fiddle in frustration. Ixa was watched her strangely from her position against the wall where a painting of a queens' crown hung above her head. It was an ironic picture. Femi felt a pair of eyes watching her and glanced sideways to find Carl secretly studying her from where he leant against the wall; his midriff was bandaged securely but he was still recovering. When their eyes connected, Carl and Femi both snapped away from each other as if their eyes had a poisonous effect on each other. Why had Carl been watching her?

"Right-oh!" Jonathan exclaimed, bowling into the lobby, "all set, ducklings?"

Femi was relieved to find him full of life again, after he had sunk away to the privacy of his bedroom like a miserable recluse earlier that day. It was always a shock, however, when the wrinkles on his skin and grey streaks of hair reminded Femi that he was almost double his age.

Alex and Samira followed after Jonathan and had just finished what seemed to be an important conversation as Samira pointed at a map she was holding. Alex took the map, folded it up, and stuffed it into his bag. These were all gifts from Samira to bid them well on their journey. Their bags consisted of water, food, clothing, rope and, of course, weapons. They would probably need them at some point but Femi prayed for the opposite.

"The driver will take you straight to the airport. Do not speak to anyone. People cannot be trusted." Samira said.

Alex nodded in agreement, "No worries about that."

He then shook Samira's hand, like the gentleman he could be, and led the group out onto the front porch and down onto the driveway. Samira opened the large gates and watched them load into the black car where a pale man wearing a cap-hat waited in the drivers' seat.

"Is this safe?" Ixa asked, surveying the walls of the vehicle.

Femi smiled, "Completely. This is how we travel, now. They are called cars."

"…Cars." Ixa repeated, amused.

Carl just stared at her from his seat opposite them with a stiff mouth and unconvinced eyes. He still hadn't come to accept that Ixa was the daughter of an ancient God, sent to their world for the sake of Jonathan's libido. Jonathan slipped into a seat beside Carl and sent him a quick smile but Carl didn't return it. He couldn't believe what a moron Jonathan was. No wonder Armand was so concerned about the future of the ring and its wishes – an idiot was going to waste them. Fair enough, Armand wanted to use the ring for power and all-things wicked, but if Carl wore the ring, he would use it for good. Money, and good.

Alex sat in the front with the driver to ensure that the plan went as agreed. He didn't trust anyone, even if he was a companion of Samira's. Femi wished he had sat in the back next to her so that she could hold his hand or smell his scent, but it was for the best. Femi waved to Samira as they drove off while Alex simply nodded in respect; she had done the world for them. She was a decent soul.

Femi noticed Ixa's fascination as the dark, quiet world flooded by in the glossy windows. Her eyes couldn't settle on any one, single thing as her amazement took over her. Femi thought about her brother and wished that he could be with them, just like before. The gang, out to save the world again.

"Anyone want to play eye-spy?" Jonathan asked.

Femi and Carl looked to him with expressions of disbelief. Only Jonathan would suggest something as ridiculous as a game in the middle of their triumphs.

Ixa tilted her head, "What's eye-spy?"

Femi leant her head against the window, sighing tiredly, as she was forced to listen to Jonathan's lengthy explanation of the game. Alex glanced at her in the reflection and frowned; he knew how much she was worrying about her brother. Alex clenched his fists, furious at himself for being so useless. If he could only get him back for Femi, just to wipe that sadness from her lovely face.

The car arrived at a deserted airport which held only one runway and an average-sized garage fit for three aeroplanes – one was already on the runway, waiting for them. So far, everything was going to plan. Femi wondered when the first hiccup would ruin their easy journey. Something always happened…

"Thanks." Alex said to the driver.

The silent skinny man simply nodded and let the group climb out of the vehicle and into the wild winds caused by the propeller. The pilot stood by the open door of his cabin and waved to them with his hat, calling them over. The group rushed over and let Alex do the talking, as usual.

"You're O'Connell?" The man called over the propeller.

Alex nodded, "That's me!"

"You owe me, man!" He teased, "I've not been called out at this time in five years!"

"We appreciate it!" Alex replied.

"Well," The pilot slapped the side of his plane proudly, "Mexico City, here we come. I hope you're ready. Eleven hours is kind of a long flight."

Nodding, Alex parted from the pilot to begin helping his group into the bulk body of the plane. It wasn't huge but spacious enough for everyone to get comfortable in a seat of their own, aside from Alex and Femi who sat together. Their belongings collected in the shelves above them or in a vacant seat near to them. Ixa looked petrified.

"Is _this _safe?" She called out, gaping out through her window.

Femi smiled over at her as she held Alex's hand, "This is called an aeroplane! It's a faster way for us to travel!"

Ixa just blinked at Femi in a clueless manner. It must have been difficult, Femi thought, having to adjust to such a modernised world with strange machinery and buildings. Everyone was ready for take-off but as the pilot accelerated and the plane begun to zoom speedily down the runway, Ixa broke out into a panic.

"Dios moi!" Ixa almost screamed, clutching the arms of her seat, "dios moi! Dios moi!"

Everyone sat up in their seats to peer over at her as she trembled in her place, head swishing from left-to-right and feet digging into the floor. She was terrified! The plane finally lifted from the ground and the inertia sent butterflies fluttering inside Ixa's stomach. That was all she needed. At once, Ixa leapt from her chair and started to run up and down the aisle with the characteristics of a limping monkey, ducking and rising, spinning and swerving her head in her desperate search for an explanation.

"Ixa!" Femi called out to her.

Before she could even move, Alex was already shuffling across her seat. He marched up the aisle with the intention of returning Ixa calmly to her seat, but the poor girl screamed upon seeing him drawing near to her and scurried to the back of the plane. Femi knelt up on her seat to watch the insane event take place.

"Calm down!" Alex held his hands up to her, "it's alright, damn it!"

Ixa shook her head madly, "No, no, no, no!"

"Come on, darling," Jonathan cooed, ridiculously relaxed, "it's just a little bump in the air!"

Carl watched with both amusement and surprise; he didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for the girl. Femi watched as Alex slowly approached Ixa, but with every step he took, Ixa was pushed further into her panic. It was time for a womans' touch. Sighing, she quickly jumped from her seat and Carl watched as Femi rushed down the aisle to take over from Alex's role.

"Ixa…" Femi spoke softly, stepping before Alex, "I know you're frightened, but you have to calm down."

"What is this?" Ixa stuttered, "we are in the **air**!"

Femi nodded, "We are flying… Don't be afraid… We have been doing this for years… Nothing is going to happen to us up here. Trust me."

Ixa's lips trembled as she watched Femi in a deep frown. Her eyes glanced to the windows and back again, as if deliberating Femi's honesty. There was a sudden knock against the wind causing a shudder through the body of the plane and, suddenly, Ixa instantly threw herself against Alex and clung to him like a child. Femi's eyebrows raised in surprise as she watched Alex look down at her head, clueless as to what he should do. He felt embarrassed in front of Femi but sympathetic towards the poor girl shaking around him. At first, Femi felt a twinge of annoyance towards the situation, but ultimately her mature attitude knocked her back to reality and she felt no objection against it. Femi nodded, moving past them, and Alex slowly rested his hands down on Ixa's head.

"Come on," Femi told him, "sit down… Ixa, you'll forget we're even up here soon."

Alex led the cowardly Ixa to an empty row of seats and had attempted to sit her down, but the girl just wouldn't let go. Looking to Femi for help, Femi just nodded in approval. Alex begrudgingly sat down and allowed Ixa to hide away against him; Femi thought nothing of it, and why would she? The girl was in shock and Alex was the strongest figure in the group. He would make any girl feel safe.

"Bloody mary," Jonathan sighed, rolling his eyes, "what next? I wish this would all"-

Alex turned and pointed threateningly back at his uncle, "If you wish… for one more god-forsaken thing… I swear… I'll kill you myself."

Jonathan pouted like a spoilt brat and sunk down into the depths of his seat, nuzzling his chin into his coat. Carl couldn't help but chuckle and everyone looked to him.

"Someone oughta' stitch his mouth shut." He teased.

Alex turned his head away, "Be my guest."

Jonathan looked to Carl, at once, and Carl presented him with a cruel smile. He was, of course, teasing Jonathan but Femi didn't approve.

"You just stay away from me," Jonathan mumbled, "or I'll get Femi on you."

Femi rolled her eyes, "Oh shutup, Jonathan. No one is stitching anyone's mouth shut."

Jonathan leant up, "But he"-

"Please," Femi grunted, "can we all just be quiet?"

It was then that everyone recognised the aggravation in Femi's voice. A blanket of silence fell over the group and they shifted into their own guilty thoughts, pondering philosophically over the chain of events so far. Here there were, flying to Mexico city with the daughter of a God, an aging Jonathan, and the fate of the world in their hands. They kept forgetting how serious their situation was. Femi kept glancing over at Ixa and Alex as they cuddled together. She couldn't be jealous. Ixa was just scared. And Alex was simply comforting her. What else was he supposed to do, kick her off him? Femi shook the ridiculous suspicions from her mind and tried to rest. She was tired, now, but after an hour went by and all of the others had managed to succumb to their dreams, Femi was still wide awake. She shifted plenty of times and tried to use her jacket as a pillow against the window, but nothing was working.

Femi twisted round in her seat to look back at everyone. Jonathan was drooling, Alex was asleep against his window and Ixa had finally fallen asleep in his lap. Why did Femi _still _feel a bother itching at her heart? Ixa was innocent and helpless, and Alex was strong and simply helping her.

"Get over it, girl." Femi growled, turning away.

"Still awake?" Carl's voice spoke from behind her.

Femi peered through the gaps in her two seats to see Carl sitting there, looking out of his window. The glow of the silver moonlight cast shadows across his handsome face.

"I can't shut off…" Femi sighed, "with everything…"-

Femi cut herself off and just shook her head. What was the point in talking about it? It wasn't going to change anything. Carter was _still_ being held prisoner, their world was _still_ at the risk of ending and Alex was _still_ cuddled up with a gorgeous celestial girl.

"He's only being kind, you know." Carl suddenly said.

Femi looked at him in surprise. She didn't say anything, but just looked into his eyes. He sent her a look of knowledge, but also a vague sparkle of amusement. What was he implying? He glanced at Alex and Ixa, causing Femi to understand **exactly **what he had meant.

"Please," Femi scoffed, "you need not reassure me of such silly things."

"Fine," Carl arrogantly retreated, "but you're awake for some reason."

"My chair is uncomfortable, thank you very much!" Femi whispered, but snapped.

Carl held his hands up innocently, "Alright, alright… I was only concerned."

"Don't be," Femi narrowed her eyes, "you're not here to be our companion. Therefore your concern for me is not needed."

With that, Femi turned back and folded her arms tightly across her chest; his words had upset her, but why? Femi couldn't stop herself from looking over at Ixa one more time. She remembered their conversation about love. Ixa's exact words were: "_I want to find a love… Like you and Alex."_

No. It meant nothing.

Femi mentally slapped herself for even beginning to think about it and closed her eyes.

_**Author's**** Notes:**_** I just want to say that I hope you're all enjoying my sequel! I am really enjoyng the new characters to the story and can already see how everything is going to pan out... Dun dun duuuuun! Please review and let me know your thoughts and feelings. It always helps :) Sorry if they aren't being updated as quickly as you'd all like, but I'm trying to fit my writing into work, studying for a degree, and having a social life. **

**~Hyaline**


	14. Pirates Complicate Things

**Author's notes :-**_Hi everyone. I've been really naughty… Sorry for taking months to update. University really has taken its toll and it's been hard to find inspiration when so much is going on. I sincerely hope this feeds your hunger. Thank you to all of you for being such amazing followers. Much love,_

_~Hyaline_

-0-

The ropes dug into his wrists and made him wince every few seconds that passed. His legs were bent uncomfortably beneath himself and his stomach growled painfully with starvation. How long was he going to be kept like this? As if God had heard him, the bedroom door swung open and a man dressed in black marched inside. They dumped a bowl full of bread and ham by his legs. The man bent down to cut Carter free from his binds.

"Oh, thank you…" Carter dove to the wooden plate.

His captor watched as Carter stuffed his face like a pig. All table manners had gone out the window. Carter swallowed hard and sat back against the wall, momentarily studying his bleeding wrists. His captor then surprised him by lowering down into a crouch and pulling out a cloth, a bottle of whiskey, to start cleaning his broken skin. Carter grimaced and pulled away.

"Don't be such a baby," The captor spoke.

Carter's eyes widened slightly, "Y-you're a _woman_?"

The woman pulled down the cloth wrapped across her mouth to reveal her face; she also pulled off the hat, allowing her blonde, shoulder-length hair to shine for him. For just a second Carter completely forgot about his hunger as he admired her beauty.

"I'm trying to get you out of here," The woman spoke in a low whisper, "but this place is surrounded. Can you hold on for a bit longer?"

She glanced into Carter's baffled eyes as she dabbed his bloody wrists with the whiskey-soaked fabric. Carter blinked a few times, coming to his senses.

"You want to help me?" Carter raised a suspicious eyebrow, "why, she-devil?"

The woman rolled her eyes, "You're not the only one who wants to see the end to that damned ring. If Armand gets it, we're all done for. I don't quite fancy being dead just yet."

Carter was in awe of her, "Right…"

"I'm June," She leant back to look down at him, "you can trust me."

"Carter," Carter replied with a bewitched nod.

June chuckled, "I know who you are."

Her milky voice made his blood thicken. Her voice was quite cockney for a maiden so fair, and she could evidently look after herself judging by her choice of a career path as Armands' handywoman. Some voices came from outside and June, in a panic, leapt up to her feet and recovered her face with her cloth. She stood back with her hands locked at her stomach just as the bedroom door swung open again and, this time, two large men entered with Armand.

"Getting acquainted?" Armand sarcastically asked Carter.

Carter glared up at him, "She's a real gem."

Armand looked faintly intrigued and June was forced to kick Carter in the hip to uphold his trust. Carter grunted and keeled over slightly; June didn't look at him. Armand looked amused.

"I've contacted my team in Mexico City. They're searching your friends down as we speak," Armand told Carter.

Carter continued to glare up at him, "Good luck to them…"

Armand snickered, "We're leaving shortly. Get him ready."

With that, he waved his hand royally in the air before leaving the room. The two henchmen remained behind, as if monitoring Carter and June. This was going to be a tricky escape.

Meanwhile, in Mexico City, Alex and the gang were dealing with their own tricky situation. Arms flailing about, feet stomping, Alex proceeded to argue with a Mexican bus officer who didn't understand a speck of English. Femi, Jonathan and Carl waited in the background with tired expressions as they sat on the wall of a stone fountain. Ixa was delighting herself with the sights and smells around them.

"God damnit!" Alex slammed his hand down onto the wooden desk, "I need a taxi! Taaaaxiiiiiiiii, do you understaaaaand?"

Femi, rolling her eyes, stood up in a huff, "Alex, this is pointless!"

The Mexican man leapt an inch in the air through his ultimate frustration, while overwhelming Alex with his fast talking. At that moment, Ixa walked up to the counter and sighed. She spoke to the man in his native language and his face began to soften. He finally nodded and spoke back to her. Femi and Alex blinked owlishly at her.

"How long were you gonna' let me make a fool of myself for?" Alex looked embarrassed.

Ixa smiled, "I know the ancient language. I didn't think it would work."

Carl smirked to himself. Within seconds, the Mexican bus owner had pulled out the appropriate paperwork and started leading them across the street to where a large, rusted minibus was parked. Femi stepped up into the bus and instantly grimaced at seeing chickens, a goat, and local villagers crowded into their seats. It stank of sweat and animals. She was never a fussy girl and always adored animals, but these conditions weren't her personal favourite.

Carl laughed from the back of their queue, "Nothing like a bit of cultural education."

Alex glared back at him before edging Femi into the body of the bus. Ixa hesitated, at first, but reached out to Alex for his hand. Femi was surprised to, yet again, witness Ixa reaching out to her partner for support and watched them like a cat as Alex awkwardly accepted her request and led her onto the bus. Ixa was awfully jumpy for an all-mighty Genie's daughter. Femi moved to the very back of the bus where she managed to squeeze in between an elderly woman and a small child, while the others made do with anywhere they could find. Jonathan ended up beside a goat; it looked at him, one eye headed east and the other west.

"Alright pet," Jonathan uncomfortably shifted, his nose wrinkling slightly.

The bus officer who had loaded them aboard signalled for the driver to depart and the bus doors screeched shut, but didn't close properly. The company owner growled and kicked it a couple of times after which it finally worked. The bus pulled off from the roadside and headed down the main street of the busy city, outbound to the jungle roads. Femi fanned her face with her hand, puffing out her cheeks like a blowfish. She caught Alex's eyes from a few seats away and they both smiled tenderly at each other, despite Ixa clinging onto him like a baby. She had certainly taken a liking to him. Femi felt another pair of eyes on her and looked down to see the teenage girl blinking up at her; Femi just smiled.

For the rest of the journey, the group had no choice but to sit in silence and ponder over the past events of their quest. Femi feared for her brother, Alex feared for his greying uncle and Ixa studied the scenery in fascination. She looked more comfortable than ever, however, as the familiar jungle scenery helped her feel more at home. It had been nearly two hours before they were engulfed in the true sweat of the tropical forest and the sounds of nature surrounded them. They wound along the uneven roads that led them onto the cliff-front where they could see for miles over the bowl-shaped jungle below. Femi tried not to peer out of her window for too long as her imagination ran wild with frightening scenarios.

They had just moved into a clear area of the jungle where a beautiful waterfall crashed down into a green pool. It couldn't be much longer, surely? Three hours felt like an entire eternity without any leg room or fresh air. The old woman beside Femi coughed intrusively and made her lean away in disgust. She was about to say something when the whole bus shuddered and a loud bang made everyone shout out in fear. Everyone held on for dear life as the bus came to a rough falter by the pool and collided into the trunk of a wide tree-stump, bringing to a complete stop.

"What the hell?" Carl shouted out.

Alex half-stood, "What's going on?!"

The other Mexican civilians joined them in shouting and waving their hands about in frustration and the helpless bus driver batted them away as he walked off the bus to check his engine. Steam was pouring out from the front and the bus was slightly off-balance, as if one of the wheels had vanished. Alex and Carl shuffled down the aisle and got off the bus to help the driver investigate; Femi quickly followed. They gathered at the front of the bus where thick smoke and hissing sounds disheartened them. Ixa and Jonathan were soon behind them.

"What is it? What did you do?" Alex spoke with large hand gestures.

The bus driver rabbited back to him in his foreign language and Alex just rolled his eyes. Ixa stepped forwards to liaise and the group waited anxiously for an explanation. Once Ixa had enough information, she turned to face them with a frown.

"We have to get off," Ixa told them, "it's broken."

"Oh, bloody fantastic," Jonathan threw his hands up.

"What does he mean – _broken_?" Alex looked furious, "what're we supposed to do now, in the middle of the jungle?"

Ixa looked hurt, "I-I don't know. I don't understand all of these mortal terms!"

Alex stepped towards her, "Well learn! You're the daughter of a damned God, can't you do something?"

"I'm sorry," Ixa held her hands to her chest like a frightened child, "I-…"

"_Alex_," Femi scolded him.

Alex suddenly realised he had taken his anger out on Ixa and frowned in disgrace. Ixa pushed past him, storming off, and disappeared over by the pond to suffer in her own company. Alex rolled his eyes in frustration.

"Well done," Femi tutted, "she's just frightened."

Alex shifted uncomfortably on the spot for a few moments while deliberating. The disappointment in Femi's eyes made him feel like crap.

"I know the way," Carl then interrupted, "I can take us there by foot. But we should move fast. These roads are known for trouble."

Alex looked to Carl, uncertain, and studied him for a moment. He finally nodded. Carl went back to collect his things from the bus while Femi, Alex and Jonathan discussed the situation in private.

"I don't like this," Femi sighed, "can we trust him?"

"We have so far," Alex rubbed the back of his neck, "we haven't got any other choice. It's walk his way, or stay stuck here for god knows how long."

The sound of bustling people caught their attention and they looked around to see all of the passengers spilling out from the bus with their belongings. Evidently, everyone had made the same decision to take responsibility for their journey.

Femi sighed, "Fine… We'll walk it."

The little girl whom Femi had been sitting next to stepped down from the bus and slipped, causing her to fall over onto all fours. Femi immediately rushed to her rescue and helped her stand; Alex admired his girlfriend. She was always caring for others. This made him feel even worse about his actions towards Ixa and looked over at her, where she was leaning against a tree and gazing out over the waterfall sadly. Alex knew what he had to do.

"Are you alright?" Femi asked, brushing the little girl down.

Her grandmother came over and comforted the child, smiling down at Femi and nodding in gratitude. The little girl beamed up at her and then plucked a tiny red flower from her grandmothers' straw bag and handed it up to her.

"Thank you," Femi took it, her heart swelling.

She watched the old woman and the little girl walk away and join a large group of fellow commuters. They were all headed back to the city which made her apprehensive over how long the walk ahead was. Thinking this, Femi looked round with parted lips to say something to Alex – but he wasn't there. He was standing with Ixa by the fountain. What were they doing over there? Curious, and unnecessarily wary, Femi peered around the bonnet of the steaming bus to spy on them from her position. Alex was speaking down to Ixa, who remained hugging herself like a child. She had the face of a broken heart. But why? Surely Alex hadn't upset her that much?

Carl dumped a bag on the floor beside Femi and made her jump from her thoughts. She glared over at him.

"That's not ours," She told him.

"It's been left behind," Carl shrugged, "got a blanket and some food inside. Finders keepers."

"Thief," Femi snapped.

He smirked at her as he walked past her and Femi's eyes once again found Alex and Ixa, but this time Ixa was looking up at Alex and smiling. It wasn't a normal smile, like one that a friend would give to another friend. It was the same type of smile Femi had given Alex when she realised she loved him. Oh dear god – the genie's daughter was falling for her boyfriend.

Then out of nowhere, the situation escalated into mayhem. The sound of gunshots exploded into the air and everyone screamed, ducking to the ground. Femi looked up from the dirt at hearing male voices shouting in the distance, in Mexican. She saw the silhouettes of men holding rifles up in the trees, on the hillside.

"_Pirates_," Carl sneered, laying chest-down in the dirt beside her, "I told you."

"What do we do?" Femi looked round at him with wide eyes.

At seeing such vulnerability in Femi's chocolate eyes, something stirred inside him. He wanted to protect her. At once, Carl leapt up and backed up against the side of the bus, pulling out his pistol from his belt. He started firing back at the pirates in the distance and Femi rolled underneath the bus with Jonathan to take cover. Femi looked out by the pool to find Alex and Ixa hiding behind the tree, Ixa crouched down by his legs, and Alex firing his own gun up at them.

"We need to move!" Carl shouted.

Alex fired his gun, "You don't say!"

Carl rolled his eyes, "On the count of three?"

"One!" Alex fire his gun.

The pirates were slowly drawing closer from the hillside. The rest of the villagers were already long gone back along the road – good for them, Femi thought, looking at the flower the little girl had given her. It now lay squished in the dirt.

"Three!" Carl cried, "Femi, Johnny – let's go!"

At once, Femi and Jonathan wriggled out from beneath the bus and leapt to their feet to start running through the jungle. Femi's fists swung by her sides and her feet hit the ground so hard, her shoes nearly came off. They leapt over trees, under vines, broke through bushes and meandered around any obstacles. It was a dizzy haze and the gunshots were still on their tail. Somehow Femi had been separated from the rest of the group, just due to coincidental layout of the jungle forcing her in the opposite direction. She could see their figures but only as shadows through the greenery.

"Alex!" Femi called.

She heard his voice echo back, but it was distant. She couldn't see anyone, now. Femi was so busy looking leftwards that she hadn't spotted the slippery drop approaching up ahead and with a sudden scream, she fell onto her back and was speeding down a watery, muddy slide through the shrubbery of the jungle. Leaves, sticks and stones swatted her on the way down and she finally landed in a shallow puddle of mud, thick with age. She surfaced with a desperate gasp for air and the water from the slide poured over her, clearing away most of the mud.

"Alex!" Femi cried out, her heart racing.

Voices answered her, but they weren't friendly. Femi huddled into the wall underneath the slide and pressed herself against the wall, holding a firm hand over her mouth to silence her breathing. The pirates soon came into the clearing and carefully treaded around the mud-bath with their long rifles grinning hungrily. They looked rough, with bandanas, tattoos and scruffy clothes. Their faces were hard with years of bloodshed. Femi waited in terror for them to finally disappear and when she had stirred enough courage inside herself, she pelted. Once again Femi fled through the jungle, praying she would find Alex. She dared not call out to him for fear of the pirates. Suddenly, someone crashed into Femi and she screamed out, kicking and punching wildly to protect herself.

"Stop!" Carl exclaimed, "it's me, damnit!"

Femi relaxed at once and looked up into his face, "Carl?"

Carl lifted his finger to his lips, signalling for her to be quiet. She nodded profusely. Taking her hand tightly in his, the gun in the other, Carl led them across the thick jungle in haste. His cautious eyes and ears were alert to everything around them. Eventually, they reached the river, where the rest of the gang had literally arrived seconds ago. Femi ran over to Alex, who wrapped her up into a hug of desperation.

"You lost me," Femi panted in a whisper.

Alex rubbed the back of her wet, muddy head "Never again."

Alex's eyes connected with Carl's, who was standing a few feet away. Alex hated the fact that Carl had saved her and not him, and Carl's smugness made him feel even worse. It was a man thing; any man who had ever been in love knew how shameful it was to not be there for your woman.

"Look!" Ixa exclaimed excitedly, pointing.

Everyone looked to her and followed her finger; two boats sat beside the riverbank, as if just waiting for them. No one could believe their eyes. Carl started chuckling and rushed into the water to investigate.

"Talk about luck," Carl laughed, "I guess it's not all bad for us."

"And I didn't even have to make a wish!" Jonathan grinned.

The group hastily boarded the boats – Carl and Ixa in one, and Femi, Alex and Jonathan in the other. Alex sat behind Femi and pulled her into him, his arms wrapping around her for a moment. He rest his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Femi nuzzled into him, "I'm getting mud all over you."

Alex snickered, "Good."

He kissed her on the cheek before joining Jonathan in rowing down the river. Femi's smile faltered as she gazed down into the water. Although she wasn't angry with her lover, she still felt a strange knot inside her. She owed Carl a massive thank you – after all, he had risked his life to save her. But why? He owed her nothing and they didn't even trust each other. Well, Femi certainly trusted him now.

From afar, Ixa bore daggers into Femi's head as she watched her snuggling up to Alex. She couldn't help the way she felt about him. Carl, seated behind Ixa, spotted the jealousy on her frown. He knew exactly what was happening to the group – things were becoming complicated.


End file.
